The Annals of Darkness: A Week of Troubles
by Shire Folk
Summary: Part II. With Maleficent returned and brandishing the powers of Kingdom Hearts Sora and Kairi suddenly appear in Radiant Garden in a coma in the arms of an enemy. With Sora missing an arm and unable to call the keyblade can they ever recover their hope?
1. Deathly Dreams

_Back again everyone, missed me? I bet you did but that's neither here nor there. For everyone reading this tale for the first time, Welcome. For everyone returning, Welcome Back. I'll cut right to the chase; this is technically my second Kingdom Hearts fanfic, and my third fic in total. I'll give you guys a little refresher (it won't be so little though, given the amount of stuff that's happened, and I'll give a little behind the scenes information that I didn't give you guys as well) on what's happened for those who don't want to go back and read through all 391 388 words (give or take as I go through and nitpick) of __**Part I, The Beginning**__ (gasp), and a brief summary of what's to come in this installment._

_Review: Sora, Kairi, and Riku returned to Destiny Islands with Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket after defeating Xemnas on Saturday the 16__th__ of August (yes to all you newbies I like using dates). The Disney cast left on the 17__th__, and the trio got grounded for a week because their adventures were true. Unbeknownst to the keyblade wielding trio, Maleficent had taken possession of Xemnas' castle in The World That Never Was, and destroyed the world of Spira on the 19__th__. King Mickey saw the star vanish, and immediately set about trying to counter Maleficent. It was at this date that the fayth of Ixion was turned into a heartless and a Nobody, Nixion. Two days later, Maleficent found Ascalon, and began turning Charr into Charr heartless, the very first group of which turned Devona into a heartless and Nobody, Cossex. Both Nobodies were then persuaded to join her the next day. King Mickey was able to secretly make contact with PJ, who had been abducted by Pete, on the 22__nd__ (the same day the Nobodies joined, try to keep up with me) and Axel arrived at Disney Castle after being reborn. King Mickey then returned to the Castle on the 23__rd__ to find Axel there, and formulated a plan with Leon while writing the message to Sora, Riku, and Kairi, which arrived the day after. Both Axel and Yuffie arrived on the island of Felra the same day that the bottle reached the trio. Alice was also captured on this day and the Klondike (White Fang's world) was destroyed by heartless. School started the next day (Monday the 25__th__), Sora and Kairi in grade 11 and Riku in grade 12, with Axel and Yuffie teaching a weapons training class that Sora and Kairi were in; King Mickey sent for Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. It was revealed late that day to Riku while he was helping Axel program a simulator for the next day's class that a part of Maleficent's plan was to turn Sora into a heartless for her revenge. The next day, Sora and Kairi went into the simulator and took down a simulation program of Xemnas, and they confessed their love to each other after the battle was won, to the amazement of their class and friends. Sora begged for the party Yuffie had promised him and she agreed to throw it tomorrow. Cinderella was successfully captured by Nixion and Cossex failed to take Jasmine on this day._

_At the party the next night they were attacked by Cossex, hoping to redeem herself for failing to get Jasmine. She fails even while mentally harming Sora and Roxas (healed by Kairi and Naminé), and Sora and Kairi are instructed by Axel to head for Disney Castle, which they do after sealing the keyhole. Pete left on Maleficent's orders to search for them. The duo reach Disney Castle on the 28__th__, and after a small planning session, they leave with Goofy's son Max to the Radiant Garden, and arrive in time to defend it from Pete and an army of heartless. King Mickey together with Donald and Goofy reach a new world on this day, Baker Street, and are able to quickly find and seal the keyhole while taking down Rattigan. Sora, Kairi, and Max reach orbit around Neverland that evening, and spend an actual three days there even though it is less than one because of a time warp between the worlds caused by the imbalance created by the heartless, which the characters are still as of yet unaware of. They then reach the Radiant Garden on the same day, and do a spot of training with Merlin while Sora buys Kairi a birthday present. Maleficent hatches a plan against the Islands as well, and Riku is informed on the Islands and King Mickey aboard his ship by PJ, who is acting as a double agent for their side. The three from the Castle arrive in Kingdom of the Sun, and regrettably are held there for too long. Sora and Kairi finish training in magic with Merlin on the 30__th__, and Snow White is captured by Nixion while Maleficent then calls together a council of villains throughout the worlds._

_The 31__st__ of August was a big day, for even though Sora and Kairi tied to win a Struggle Tournament in Twilight Town, the island of Felra, which is the main island upon which our characters lived, was attacked and the town destroyed by heartless and nobodies under the control of Cossex; Sora's mother, Riku's parents, and Kairi's adoptive parents were all slain personally by Maleficent's stooge, who truly took no pleasure in the senseless killings even through the emotions she emulated were those of sick pleasure. Before the horde struck, Riku and Yuffie decided the start going out. Twilight Town's keyhole was sealed the next day, and Sora and Kairi reached Beast's Castle, or rather Prince Alain's Castle, and defended Belle from an attack by Nixion and Pete. The survivors of Felra were transported via dark corridors to Twilight Town and Radiant Garden. The Land of Dragons was then destroyed in the early morning of the 2__nd__ of September (also Riku's 17__th__ Birthday), and the trio aboard the _Highwind_ took out the fleet that was now moving towards Port Royal. The group then went to Port Royal and sailed through Dead Man's Chest through the next three days, Sora reuniting with his thought-dead, actually cursed father aboard the _Flying Dutchman_. They have a concert in Atlantica on the night of the 4__th__ and King Mickey is finally able to seal the keyhole to Kingdom of the Sun and get away from Kuzco. Belle was unfortunately captured this day as well by Nixion and Cossex._

_Sora and Kairi got Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher (don't worry, it's his only appearance and I may kill him just to tie up some loose ends) the next morning, as part of a prank in which Roxas and Naminé, who had been rank with sexual comments hinting at Sora and Kairi, appeared to have had sex the previous night after the concert. They didn't though, because it was a prank. Cranky at the nobodies, who always seemed to like poking fun at their somebodies, they landed in Agrabah and attended Aladdin and Jasmine's wedding, unfortunately cut short by the arrival of Cossex and Pete, who were successfully driven out but not before Sora was wounded. Maleficent concluded her meetings, confident in her new alliances. They then leapfrogged from Halloween/Christmas Town the next day, to Pride Lands on the 7__th__, where they fought one of Maleficent's Charr Blade Storm heartless for the first time. The 7__th__ was also Kairi's/Naminé's 16__th__ birthday, and incidentally the day that both she and Sora managed to get themselves captured in an ambush by Cossex and Nixion. That brought all seven princesses of heart together in the dungeons of the Castle That Never Was, for Jasmine had been captured the previous day. The news finally leaked out to the two that their parents had been killed, and it looked as if Maleficent's revenge would be completed in turning Sora into a heartless. A keyhole to darkness was opened in the moon of Kingdom Hearts, and Maleficent became infused with all the powers of darkness. A prophecy was revealed to her at that moment and her plans changed regarding turning Sora into a heartless. She then powered up Nixion, and betrayed Cossex, who then double-crossed Maleficent and allowed for Sora and Kairi to escape, Kairi unfortunately was struck by one of Maleficent's attacks and became separated from Sora. Roxas and Naminé became separated from their somebodies in the flight and became real (see chapter 26: Opening Skirmish for full explanation). Mickey, Donald, and Goofy led an assault on the World That Never Was that very evening, but Maleficent had retreated from the castle to another world. Over the next few days Riku began adventuring with Max and Yuffie and became the wielder of Dawn, Roxas started recovering from an injury he had sustained and was made a knight of Disney Castle, Naminé became known as Kairi's twin sister, now being real, and therefore a princess of Radiant Garden. She left for the Garden with Sir Roxas Dual Blade on the 10__th__ in an attempt to get them to go to war against Maleficent, which worked on the 11__th__ only after the Garden became under attack again, this time by Nixion. All had their minds dwelling on a prophecy they had heard on the 7__th__ though._

_Sora and Kairi were reunited in The New World on the 12__th__, and were captured once more, this time by the Native Americans, and escaped once more in the early morning to finish the Pocahontas storyline. The dynamic duo then went to the Digital World, where they found out that they were digidestined with digimon partners. They beat Devimon, who had been implanted with some of Maleficent's power, and even fought the sorceress herself, briefly. They were defeated but they at least survived the fight thanks to the digimon._

_Twilight Town was attacked by Nixion and nobodies on the 14__th__, and while it was defended successfully, Roxas, Naminé, and Axel were all injured in a battle against Nixion; Roxas and Naminé critically. Both of them managed to pull through though in the night, and King Mickey returned to Disney Castle on the 15__th__, having received word that Donald, Goofy, PJ, and the knights of Disney Castle had returned safely from escorting all the other princesses of heart back to their respective worlds._

_Riku, Yuffie, and Max arrived in Gaul on the 15__th__ and met Asterix, who so happened to be another keyblade wielder who had survived a war that occurred eighteen years previously. Asterix was captured by heartless that night, and escaped the next day at night._

_Hades, who had not been located when Riku, Yuffie, and Max had searched the Underworld on the 8__th__, reappears on the 17__th__ disguised as a knight called Sedah when Sora and Kairi reached the continent of Server on the digital world to search for their crests with the other digidestined. Sedah was able to pass darkness into Kairi, which brought her under Maleficent's control. She was unable to be ridden of it until Ordona helped her on the 19__th__ after finding her crest of Virtue and Sora's crest of Valour. They both then left for Destiny Islands to see the carnage with their own eyes, and Kairi lost her free will to Hades and briefly tried to assassinate Sora. Her attempt failed and Sora almost fell into darkness, but Cossex, who was now on their side, had found the idol in Kairi's shape that held her free will and gave it to Sora, who upon touching it, instantly knew what it was. Kairi had her free will returned to her, and Hades summoned Cerberus in retribution._

_The astute reader will now be aware that I left you all off with several storylines at different times. I left you guys off with Sora and Kairi, their digimon Aiwemon and Menelmon, Cossex, Maleficent, and Hades on the 19__th__, however, Roxas, Naminé, Axel, King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are still on the 15__th__, Riku, Yuffie, Max, are on the 16__th__, and Asterix is on the 17__th__ or late at night of the 16__th__._

_That, in essence, was my recap. And you could either have suffered through this five-ten minute read to get a bit of the gist of what was going on, or you could go back for several days to a week to read the whole story. And now that you've read all that (or a lot more), is this story really worth getting yourself into?_

_You decide._

_So you can get the gist of where and when I'm starting from when you get reading, and I'm not going to give you guys a summary here, because I believe you can all read what I wrote on the description and I don't want to give too much away. You will all notice that I placed this under teen, which is ages 13+, however it may switch to M (16+) due to actions that I **will** take. When these arise, I expect you all to be the mature young adults/adults that you are._

_Disclaimer: This again? Fine. I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, or any of the works in which I borrow characters, worlds, or plots._

-A-D-

**The Annals of Darkness**

**Part II: A Week of Troubles**

Chapter I: Deathly Dreams

There was a fevered pitch in the air of the building, an apprehensive excitement that ran through the veins of everyone within the building with the same intensity. Every sound seemed either magnified or dulled in the ears of each individual and every light and sight either brightened to the intensity that it hurt the eyes or dimmed into a shade of gray that left all feeling soulless. Each feeling was experienced differently by each individual within the building. The whirring and beeping of the machines reached peaks and lows with frightening irregularity, and the heavy, snapping footfalls of many quickly moving feet nearly drowned out the sounds of wheels rolling across the linoleum floors.

Men and women in white coats or turquoise smocks were bustling around two gurneys and speaking quickly to each other in frantic voices, the machines rolling alongside them with faint beeps sounding from them as fluid from IV tubes slowly drained into the two figures that were laid on the gurneys. They quickly passed by leafy green potted plants and a large fish tank, not even sparing its uncaring denizens a glance. People sitting on chairs or benches looked up apprehensively as the mob swiftly passed them by as like a wind. Even stranger to them though was the group following behind the white coats, trying to get words out of those who surrounded the gurneys or to even get glimpses of the two who were upon them. Tears streamed unchecked down the cheeks of two who followed, each blonde, each wearing turquoise. The group rushed past a man wandering the halls, who instantly raised his hands and flattened himself against the opposite wall to try and give them some more room.

"What in the superior's name is going on here?" the man asked in confusion as the two gurneys passed him by, and the crowd around them had prevented even his tall frame from getting a good look. The man's eyes grabbed those of one who followed the gurneys, and he felt a wrench in his gut when he saw the tears on the boy's cheeks. "Roxas," he barked. "What's happening?"

"It's Sora!" the boy replied.

"And Kairi!" the girl next to him yelled, her emotions clear on her face. The man turned back to look at the two gurneys as they were both wheeled into an emergency operating room.

"That's them?" he asked in apprehensive awe, managing to just catch a faint glimpse of one before the OR door slammed shut. He looked once more at the boy and girl before his eyes swept over the remaining members of the group that had been following the doctors. There was another boy among them, as well as a man and a woman, and another woman who wore a dirty and bloody black cloak. Blood shone on the clothes and skin of the other boy and the adults. Two different coloured heads rested in the arms of the two blondes, a white one with green eyes in the boy's and an ice-blue one with brown eyes in the girl's. All three of the youth were about sixteen in age. The blonde boy's hair was spiked upwards, and the girl's locks were parted and cut to about the length of her cheeks in the front, while the hair on the back of her head swept together on its own towards her right shoulder blade. Both of them wore the turquoise coloured hospital gowns and were bare-footed but the girl wore a circlet of silver on her forehead with a sky-blue stone set in its center. The other boy in contrast had jet black hair, cropped to about two inches in length, and was in a blood-stained jean vest over a forest green shirt and a pair of blue jeans, a pair of leather gloves on his firm hands. The boy's arm and leg muscles were defined from years of ranching chocobos alongside his father and mother, and his jaw and jade eyes were set. The two adults immediately behind him were of the same stock, his father with brown hair and his mother with the same black of the boy, except her hair was long and curled around her head. Both were in clothes similar to their son's, also bloodstained by the blood of the two youth that had been wheeled into the operating room. One other stood behind them, her yellow eyes strikingly familiar underneath the long blue locks that sprouted from her fair head, and her bloodstained and muddied black cloak was of the same that two others standing in the hall used to wear, and one still did.

That one was the man who had spoken, now garbed in the turquoise hospital gown that the two blonde youth in front of his were also wearing. His crimson hair was spiked back in many cones, and his teal eyes still were set upon the doors of the room that had swung shut. He turned to look back at the group that was in front of him, his eyes drinking in the blood on the clothes of the three ranchers.

"Would someone mind telling me what's going on?" he asked bewilderedly. "How did they get here? Where were they? How in the name of the Nobodies did they get so mutilated?"

"Axel," Roxas began, wiping away the tears that stained his cheeks with his arm, keeping the white creature in his arms somewhat comfortable, "we don't know."

"And neither do we," the man behind Roxas spoke. "We just got there in time to help her out." He jabbed his thumb back towards the blue-haired woman wearing the cloak of Organization XIII. "What's going to happen to my nephew?" Axel quickly looked between the closed door and the man.

"You're nephew?" he asked. He then looked pointedly at the blue-haired woman, who was averting her eyes. "I didn't know that Sora still had any living relatives Cossex. I thought Maleficent had you take care of that?" The woman shook her head.

"She never ordered me to attack Dunash," replied Cossex. "It was only Felra that took the blow." The man, woman, and boy looked at her incredulously.

"You know of what happened to Felra?" they asked simultaneously. The blonde girl next to them shook her head vehemently.

"That's not the point right now!" she argued. "We can talk about that lat-"

"Naminé!" they all turned their heads to see a woman running towards them, her brown hair askew and a white lab coat hastily done up. "What's happening?"

"Everyone seems to be asking that question lately," Roxas remarked dryly.

"Shut up!" Naminé snapped before turning to Aerith. "Sora and Kairi just showed up unconscious and went into OR. I don't know if they're going to make it." Aerith nodded.

"I'll do what I can," she said before rushing off to go through the door.

"Let me go with you!" Naminé suddenly cried, trying to follow Aerith.

Aerith turned towards her at the last second. "No Naminé!" she ordered, giving the girl a stern look that would have cowed Squall Leonhart. "You can't!"

"Why not?" Naminé argued in hysteria, unfazed by Aerith's glare and trying to break through the arms Axel and Roxas had flung around her. "She's my _sister_! I can't just sit back and do nothing! She could die Aerith!" Aerith gaped like a fish out of water for a second before turning to a nurse that was ambling by.

"Give the princess a sedative," she whispered quietly "and do it quickly." The nurse nodded and went away as Aerith entered the door.

Aerith Gainsborough took a long deep breath as she followed the proper procedures. She covered her hair in a net and put on a green smock and mask. Taking another deep breath, she entered the operating room, forcing herself the whole while not to feel nauseous or the pangs of sorrow.

Sora and Kairi were upon two separate operating tables, the vast majority of their clothes removed out of necessity. Aerith felt sick as she looked beyond the other doctors and nurses that were moving about them towards the two teenagers. Wounds, burns, and a few bite marks covered their bodies in multiple places; blood flowed almost freely out of some gashes and bites, and the entirety of Sora's left arm was missing. Where there should have been flesh there was instead a gaping hole, oozing out blood even as patches were applied to their skin and the doctors struggled to get the bleeding under control. But there was one other thing that concerned them, for the right and left hands of the two youth were intertwined, and none seemed able to break the grip with which they held onto each other.

Aerith could only guess as to what disaster had befallen them and set to work alongside Dr. Fraiser to try and save the lives of these two that she loved. She was glad that the viewing room had become sealed; otherwise she would have to constantly be looking into the frightened faces of those who also loved the keyblade master and princess.

-A-D-

Sora's eyes slowly fluttered open as he heard a voice calling his name. His cerulean orbs slowly gained focus, his surroundings taking shape around him and their colours appearing out of the gray haze that came from being half-asleep. He felt that he was lying on the ground, dirt and forest debris mere inches from his eyes. He groaned and raised his head, looking in awe at hundreds of great trees that stretched upwards, their canopies great and towering above the ground. Birds twittered unseen in the woods and the sun shone through the canopy in shafts of light that glistened. They were in a small clearing amongst the great trees, but even that didn't help too much apart from giving him some room. His black t-shirt stuck to his chest and his brown leather jacket, the images of a crossed Oathkeeper and Oblivion over a flame on the back, clung heavily onto him, weighing him down. His jeans felt uncomfortable as he lay on the ground, and the dirt sullied them. Of the two items that hung around his neck the tag that held his Crest of Valour stuck to his chest beneath his shirt and his silver crown pendant felt cool against his cheek, exposed to the world. Sora turned his head around as he felt a hand on his left shoulder and saw a girl sitting beside him on her knees. Her own blue eyes glistened in concern as she looked at him from underneath her auburn hair, and her white shirt and skirt were able to just catch a little of the sun's light and shimmer on one side. The girl's Crest of Virtue was hidden in the same manner as his, and the pendant he had given her for her sixteenth birthday was still in the pockets of his jeans. The chain needed replacing, because she had broken it while under Maleficent's control. But now, it all seemed so surreal.

"Kairi?" he asked, "where are we?" She shook her head.

"I don't know," she replied. Sora shook his head and some of his hair fell into his eyes. He moved to move it out with his left arm, as his right was currently pinned underneath him, but he felt only his shoulder move. Surprised, he turned to look at his arm, or, where it should have been. His eyes opened wide in twisted horror as he saw nothing but air and dirt, the faint breeze blowing against the muscles and bone that had been his arm socket.

"What in the name of-!?" he shrieked. He turned to look at Kairi again and she shook her head, a small, sad frown on her face.

"Do you remember?" she asked.

"Well yeah but," Sora began, and then his eyes widened in realization and he quickly glanced back at where his arm should have been and Kairi's face. "You did that?" She nodded slightly and Sora lolled his head around. "Ah man…"

"I didn't mean to," Kairi began quickly.

"It doesn't matter," Sora interrupted. "I guess it was fate. Nothing we can do but move on." Kairi blinked.

"So, you're not mad that I, kinda…" Sora laughed at Kairi's half-statement, if only for the sake of laughing.

"No Kairi," he sighed. "I'm not angry at you. And I forgive you for what happened." Kairi turned her head away sharply.

"Well I wish you were," she said stubbornly, drawing her arms defensively about her shoulders. "And I wish you didn't." Sora raised an eyebrow and tried to prop himself up into a sitting position with his right arm.

"Why?" he asked, finally succeeding after a minute with Kairi watching him sadly out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head and looked at him again, the pain clear in her eyes.

"Because look at you," she said shakily, her eyes drawn towards the place where his arm should have been. "Instead of healing your arm, I completely blasted it away." She let her head fall and wrung her hands. "I can't even forgive myself for it." Sora reached out and gently touched her upper arm with his hand, being very careful as he did it so he wouldn't over compensate for the loss of mass on his left side and fall over.

"Hey," he called quietly as she shied away from his touch. "We don't need the pity party right now."

"Sora…" Kairi moaned quietly. The boy slipped slightly and fell over, hitting his head on the ground with a dull thud.

He let go of Kairi and propped himself back up again with his one arm, giving her a look. "I mean it Kairi," he said seriously. "Just because you blew my arm into oblivion doesn't mean that you should beat yourself up about it. Remember how it was before you did that?" Kairi nodded slowly and Sora continued. "I was hurting you Kairi, and my arm was hurting _me_ even while the pain I was causing you hurt my heart. You did what you had to."

"Maybe…" sighed Kairi. "But what are we going to tell the others?"

"How about that I just lost it to Hades' sword?" he responded, shrugging his shoulders and falling down again. "Oomph, it's kinda the truth. Not the _whole_ truth exactly but-" he stopped, hearing a sound in the forest. The birds had stopped their singing without them noticing, and all now seemed too quite. There was a rustling amongst the undergrowth, the leaves moved eerily, and the sounds of people approaching were fast becoming clear.

"We should move," Kairi whispered, reaching down for Sora's arm.

He nodded. "Yeah, think you can help?" Kairi's eyes said all that was needed as she helped him to his feet, resting her shoulder in his armpit to steady him. The sounds were getting louder; now they could just about see people approaching; they looked apprehensively at each other. There would be no time for them to make a decent escape without being heard. Their eyes flitted about, trying to find a piece of cover from which they could hide. Sora spotted a tree with a large round trunk and nodded his head in that direction. Kairi nodded as well and began moving them towards the tree as fast as they dared. They flung themselves behind the trunk just before the people who were approaching reached the small clearing. The two that were hidden could hear the group breathing heavily, and from what they heard, there had to be many of them. Sora shared a look with Kairi, and they carefully peeked around the tree's trunk, Kairi making sure to keep and arm around Sora so he wouldn't fall while he parted his no longer spiked or gelled hair away from his eyes.

There were six standing in the clearing that they had just vacated, four of them being female and two male. They appeared to vary in age from around sixteen to nineteen or twenty. The oldest one was easily one of the two boys, his face showing his maturity compared to the other youth. Standing at around six feet, he had long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail, and his eyes shone with a clear blue over his handsome face, a goatee growing out from his chin with a small curl. He wore a white tunic, embroidered with gold patterns around the edges, and his pants were light and flowing over the pair of white boots he wore. His white garments, despite their current nature after running through a wood, were still illustrious and gave the impression that he came from royalty, or at the very least, nobility. His skin had a certain shine to it. A girl stood next to him, as blonde as the man but shorter by several inches, and she had her hair tied into a regal knot on the back of her head. Her eyes were as blue as the man's and her skin shone as well, in fact, the skin of all but one of the six in the clearing shone with the same hidden light. The girl was younger, roughly at sixteen or seventeen, and had donned a close-fitting robe, folds of fabric overlapping around her chest and flowing out in trailing wisps at her hips while her arms were left bare. A long skirt draped down her legs and a pair of short white hiking boots rested on her feet, and like the man next to her, she appeared to be from nobility or royalty.

The other boy appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen and stood next to a girl of the same age. Both were about the same height at five and three-quarter feet, and though the boy was slightly taller the girl would deny it. The boy's short hair was a vibrant red, like the colour of a fire, and his eyes contrasted it with a blue glow that kept his temperament cool. Despite the shortness of his hair, a tail of it crept down his neck. He garbed himself in a black vest, a white shirt underneath, and a pair of brown jeans that blended in with his brown boots perfectly. A silver crown pendant dangled from his neck. The girl next to him had a shock of chestnut hair, tied back into a bun on her upper neck. She was dressed in a light blue sleeveless shirt and a pair of blue jeans over a pair of blue boots. A silver crown pendant also hung from around her neck.

The other two girls stood somewhat in between the others. They were both at around seventeen, and stood at the same height as the blonde girl. One's hair was raven black and short, aqua eyes looked out from her fair face. Her skin did not shine like the others' but her eyes held all the fire that they needed. She wore a short brown vest over a black sleeveless top and a pair of jean shorts. Heavy boots made their way up her shins until falling just short of the knee. But the other girl was one that caught Sora's attention more than any of the others.

Her skin shone even more brightly from inside than the others, and her beautiful hair flowed past her cheeks and down to her shoulders. As she stood in the shade it appeared to be brown, but when she turned her head and the sun's light hit it the red that was infused within the brown came out to become an auburn beauty. Her body was covered by light clothes that fit her shapely curves well, a short grey skirt and a grey zippered top that reminded Sora of what Kairi had used to wear before their adventure together had started. Around her neck hung the same crown pendant as on the boy and girl, but Sora was more interested in her eyes, they were green.

He almost lost his grip on the trunk with his hand and fell from behind their cover when they began to speak.

"Did we lose him?" the blonde girl asked, the tone of her voice indicating that she had been educated in speech even if she wasn't using it. "I think we lost him."

"Not likely sis," the man next to her replied, his voice also showing his education.

"He's an elf Akeisha," said the red haired boy in a normal tone of voice. "And we're in a wood; we wouldn't be able to lose him that easily."

"Hey, I was only hoping," the girl replied before turning to look at the girl with the changing hair colour. "What do you think Niph?"

"Like our brothers said Keish," the girl, who now appeared to be called Niph, replied to Akeisha. "An elf would be very hard to mislead in a forest, especially one like this."

"Yeah," the raven-haired girl started. "But he's crazy! We all heard him. And he's got a beard, so I don't think he really is an elf."

"Then he's a half-elf Haruchi, it still doesn't matter," the red-haired boy said again, regaining much of his breath now. The raven-haired Haruchi glared at him from behind her panting eyes.

"Just shut up and don't jinx us Kas," she said. The girl next to the boy looked affronted.

"But I didn't say anything!" she said. Haruchi rolled her eyes.

"I didn't mean you Cassie, I meant your stupid twin broth Kasai. Damn it, from now on we're calling him 'Red'."

"But I like my name," Kasai protested.

"So what?" Haruchi retorted, "It confuses me!"

"Akeisha and I are not confused by their names," the blonde man said. Haruchi twitched her head slightly and placed her hands on her hips.

"That's because you're both related to them Roan," said Haruchi. "I still say should call him 'Red'." Niph then lightly grabbed her friend's arm.

"If anyone is going to be picking on my younger brother," she said, "it's going to be his older sisters."

"By two freaking minutes," Kasai muttered. Cassie whacked him upside the head.

"Stop whining about that," she said. "Remember, I'm older than you; you have to do as I say."

"But I'm bigger," Kasai countered with a humorously raised eyebrow.

"Says who?" Cassie immediately retorted. Roan and Haruchi placed hands to their heads.

"Here they go again," the young man muttered as the twins began arguing.

"Always the same argument," Haruchi added. "When will Cassie finally realize that her brother has gotten taller?"

"Hey Niph," Akeisha suddenly said, looking at the girl. "Is something wrong?" Sora and Kairi quickly withdrew behind the tree. The girl had been staring at where they were for at least ten seconds, and hadn't even flinched when her siblings began fighting.

"I thought I saw someone," they heard Niph answer. Her siblings stopped arguing, and Sora and Kairi did not need to look again to know that all eyes were either on Niph or the tree where they lay hidden. They heard the footsteps of the girl coming towards their hiding place and braced themselves behind the tree.

The girl's head suddenly spun in front of them, her green eyes looking at both of them from almost nose-to-nose distance.

Sora didn't know what caused it; he didn't know why he did it. But he did anyway without warning or thought and without the ability to stop himself.

He craned his neck upwards and kissed the girl's forehead.

"You've found us," Sora whispered. "And we've found you."

Both the girl and Kairi looked at him in horrendous shock, Kairi as if she was about to slap him into oblivion for doing something like that right in front of her. But Niph recovered from the shock first and she snarled, a blade forming in her hands pressed right up to Sora's neck. Sora dropped his eyes and looked at the sword that had materialized. It was a mother of pearl blade, the hilt resembling that of angelic wings that wrapped their way around in a cone towards the blade itself. The wings gave way and the tips of their feathers touched to a seven pointed star on the base of the blade. What was carved to look like circular shafts of light streamed around the cylindrical blade towards its end and formed a point, while a small, circular, silver disk protruded from the center of the cylinder near the end. A golden three pointed crown was woven intricately into the moon and hedged out slightly, so that the crown was over the moon and its points were beyond it. At the very back in the base of the hilt was a chain, and attached to it was a keychain resembling the very same crown that Sora and the three were wearing around their necks.

"A keyblade," Sora whispered in surprise, but for some reason he also nodded as if it was natural that she would bear one. Niph pressed closer towards him with her blade and surveyed both Sora and Kairi in interest, who upon such close proximity were forced to study the girl even more closely, and despite Kairi's jealousy and anger she did as well. Sora looked deeply into the girl's green eyes, and was startled at what he saw. They were the same green of his father.

Could this girl, and her siblings for that matter, could they be…? He shared a look with Kairi, who glared between him and Niph in disdain. Sora inclined his head towards Niph in a motion for Kairi to look again, and see past what he had done. She consented after a heavy huff. Sora saw her eyes lose the hardness they had held, and instead warmth spread into them.

"You're so beautiful," Kairi whispered in awe.

The girl looked back from him and Kairi in surprise, Kairi's sudden compliment and the sight of something in both of their eyes unnerved her. She dismissed her keyblade and backed away slightly, her eyes straying over Sora's lost limb and crown pendant for a second longer than she probably should have.

"Who are you?" she asked shakily. "And how do you know of the keyblade." In response Sora and Kairi summoned the Oblivion and the Oathkeeper into their grasp, and Kairi immediately had to grab Sora again to keep him from falling over.

"Because we wield keyblades too," Kairi replied, "Niphredil." The girl blinked and they dismissed their keyblades.

"How do you know my full name?" she asked.

"I don't know," replied Kairi. "But for some reason I want to hug you." This proved too much for the young woman and she backed away even more.

"Niphredil!" the voice of Roan called in distress. "We've got company!" Niphredil nodded and looked at Sora and Kairi.

"Stay out of sight," she murmured. "I want to talk with you both later." She walked back past the tree and Sora winced as Kairi's palm smacked his head.

"What was that for Kai?" he whispered.

"You could have at least _told_ me you lazy bum," Kairi hissed. "Instead of nearly giving me a heart attack and forcing me to figure it out for myself!"

"So you saw it too?"

"I didn't _see_ it and you probably didn't either. I _felt_ it. Now let's see what's going on." Sora nodded and Kairi made sure to clutch onto him so that he wouldn't fall over as they leaned over the edge of the trunk again to look into the clearing. The six humans were still standing there, but now there was someone else with them, someone who had evidently been the one that they had been trying to elude.

A figure of nearly six feet stood casually next to one of the trees, and even though Sora had never seen one before in his life, just the sight of the creature and the commentary previously provided by the youth was enough to convince him that the figure was an elf of some sort. The elf's skin was pure ebony, a shock of equally black hair that flowed down from his head covered by a helmet of a design Sora had never before imagined. It was rounded in the front and covered as far down as the forehead, much like that of a helmet he'd seen on cyclists, but it swept back well beyond the elf's head and curved downwards to protect his neck. Two fins protruded at the bottom of the helm on each side and guided its way down the neck on the curve, flapping over and protecting the elf's pointed ears; dark crimson lines wove their way around the helmet's black metal, the red almost so dark as to blend in with the other metal. Directly on the center of the helmet at the forehead rested a blue mark nearly as dark as the red in the shape of a Celtic knot.

Truthfully, Sora could see very little of the elf's skin, only the head and hands were visible, and a small part of the elf's head was concealed with a white beard, the fine hairs curling down from the chin in an upside down 'T' shape and straightening out into long lines, the edges of which seemed to always be twitching. He was garbed in a set of armour that appeared impossible to exist, what looked like plate was practically skin-tight on the elf's body, and it was completely seamless, like it was a single sheet of metal that was perfectly fitted to the elf's body. Deep red and blue lines again wove around the suit of armour, forming the same Celtic knot in the chest of the armour, and like strands of silk they linked their way around the elf's back. On his hip was a belt with two sheaths, one strapped to each hip, the long silver hilts of two blades resting in their scabbards strikingly evident against the black armour. Upon each of his arms the seamless armour gained almost a covering of silver upon the top of two bracers that shifted between a pearlescent red and blue. Silver bands wound around the forearm and towards the bracers. A flowing green cape dangled from around the elf's neck, the edges along the bottom torn into what looked like forest green teeth.

He shrugged off of the tree, the sounds of his metal boots crunching into the ground amplified by the silence. He let his eyes wander over the six youth, and Sora and Kairi ducked down when they swept over both of them, but his eyes passed right by and fixed on Niphredil instead.

"Where were my manners last time?" he asked, spreading his arms wide. "I can't believe we forgot introductions."

"Introductions?" Haruchi asked incredulously. "You told us you were here to kill us!" The elf passed it off with a wave of his hand.

"All in good time female," he said, the three girls all immediately fuming at him. He chuckled. "What? You don't like a compliment from Rea'lintaeth Torahl Nightrunner of the house Ratanodin? Well, my house no longer exists thanks to my sisters and I, such is why I am called 'Nightrunner' instead of Ratanodin. I wonder how House Baenre fares?" He made a slight noise to himself and looked around again, his silver eyes suddenly sparkling in interest at something on the trunk of a nearby tree.

"Why look here," he said, moving to pluck it from its position on the trunk. The item in question was in fact a creature, a small jet black spider. The arachnid stayed still on the back of his ebony hand and he surveyed the creature in reverence while Akeisha and Haruchi backed away slightly in discomfort. "One of Lolth's most favoured creatures, the spider is, so mystical, avaricious, and cunning. You know, when spiders of a new brood are born, they will tear their brethren limb from limb to survive, as the Spider Queen expects of her worshippers. To even inflict damage to one of these sacred creatures, especially by a male such as myself, is punishable by death." He suddenly looked up at the confused faces of the six youth in front of him, his face showing that he had forgotten something. "I'm sorry, were we doing anything?"

Kairi looked at Sora with her mouth hanging open slightly, her expression both confused and incredulous. "They were running from this guy?" she whispered. She glanced back at Rea'lintaeth before looking at him again. "He's crazier than Demyx." Sora shook his head.

"I don't know," he replied. "Sometimes the crazier they are, the more dangerous."

The elf carefully replaced the spider on the trunk of the tree and looked again at the youth in the small clearing. "Oh, yes that's right! We were introducing ourselves. Forgive my manners once again." He bowed low and spoke again with his head lowered. "Forgive me, but Squinty did not inform me of your names, might I inquire as to what they are?"

"Isn't it part of the villain handbook to know the names of your enemies before you hunt them down?" Kasai asked sarcastically. Both he and Roan had silently and slowly moved to stand protectively in front of the girls while Rea'lintaeth was examining the spider. Niphredil stood just behind and to Kasai's right, she did not want to be left out.

"Witty as well male," Rea'lintaeth said with a laugh as he returned from his bow. "But come now; give me your names while your females have you stand guard over them. They are probably more than capable of defending themselves, but I will leave it to my sisters to deal with them eventually, for I shall not strike a female lest I incur their wrath." Sora felt his own eyebrows fly behind his bangs that once again threatened to block his vision, but now he did not dare try to move them out of the way.

"I like this guy," Kairi whispered, playfully squeezing Sora slightly.

"Ah, shut up," Sora moaned under his breath. "Just because he's the only guy we've found who _won't_ take advantage of you and believes all girls are superior…"

"Well then," Roan began. "If you wish to know our names, _I_ will tell you what they are. I am Prince Roan Axel Macilu of Radiant Garden and this is my sister, Princess Akeisha Alexandria Macilu."

"And I am Kasai Naur Elen of Destiny Islands," Kasai said. "And these are my sisters, Niphredil Estel Elen, and Cassandra Sora Elen."

"You forgot about me boys," Haruchi spoke up from the back, still visible behind the two. "I am Haruchi Gwaelin Allyourbasearebelongtous."

"Get serious for once Haruchi," Kasai moaned with a laugh.

"Sure thing Red," Haruchi said lightly. "Haruchi Gwaelin Ascalla of Twilight Town." Rea'lintaeth nodded at each of them.

"And you know my name, as I have just said it." He let his hands wander towards the hilts of his swords and he withdrew two shining scimitars from their scabbards. From the left scabbard, now in his right hand, was a long thin scimitar, its blade a pure crimson, and in his left, retracted from his right scabbard was an exact duplicate, the sword a clear blue. The hilts of both blades were long and slender, silver in their construction, and gently folded into the shaft of the blade, no guard present. From his distance Sora could make no sight of any grips, but he doubted if the elf would need any.

"Foradaltan, he said," emphasizing the red sword in his right, "and Gonbaltan," now he twirled the blue in his left to showcase it. He crossed both blades in front of him, the sound of the metal creating a sharp ring as a flare of fire came from Foradaltan and the hiss of steam from Gonbaltan. "Together they form Fluid Attraction, and together, they shall test you both, Prince Roan Macilu and Kasai Elen. Let us see if your blades and the stars are on your side."

-A-D-

_There's the first chapter for you guys. I hope you enjoyed it and will enjoy the continuing story._

_Three guesses as to who each of the six youth I just described are, or if they will even exist._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	2. The Battle of Gaul

_I just realized that I made a mistake about Yuffie, thinking that she was about eighteen. Now I know that she is in reality only sixteen! So I have just gone back and redone everything that commented on Yuffie being older than she is. Actually wait, Yuffie was sixteen in FF-VII, then two years passed so she's eighteen in FF-VII-AC, which is the outfit they put her in for KH-2 even though she was in her FF-VII outfit in KH-1. So never mind. I'm going to stick with my first guess._

_You may have also notice that I scrapped the Christmas Chapter from the site. That's because I didn't want it up anymore and I noticed some inaccuracies in it. So it is gone, and will be re-vamped for its true appearance in the story timeline._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square-Enix, or anything that I take from. Otherwise I would have already known about Yuffie's age._

-A-D-

**The War**

Chapter II: The Battle of Gaul

The rays of the early morning sun broke over the coast of Armorica greeted by the call of the rooster. Dawn was settling over a little village inhabited by indomitable Gauls, the soft plumes of smoke rising from the chimneys of the thatched huts. Morning was normally also greeted by the bard Cacofonix, who would have already woken and privately stretched out his vocal chords. But today he stilled his voice, much to Fulliautomatix's approval, because during the night the village had discovered that one of their greatest warriors, Asterix, had vanished from his hut.

It had been one of those three from off-world that had discovered his disappearance, the girl Yuffie. She had walked into his hut shortly after he had left her on the outskirts of the banquet, and found that he was gone with only a roman tower shield bearing the emblem of the heartless behind as their only clue.

Yuffie had been devastated when she told the village, who were still enjoying the banquet (apart from Cacofonix, he had been tied and gagged under a nearby tree yet again). Obelix was hit worst, being Asterix's best friend; and Getafix and Vitalstatistix both openly expressed their worry.

In a hut that stood just outside the palisade walls of the village, the three from the other worlds woke. It was a clever ruse, for they truly slept within a Gummi ship, the _Highwind_. A cloaking device had caused the ship to outwardly mimic the design of one of the village huts and stay hidden even in plain sight.

A boy of seventeen with steely lilac-silver hair woke upon the bed that had formerly belonged to his best friend Sora, his head hurting a little. Riku looked around the room from underneath his aqua eyes, dismally remembering the news Yuffie had brought them the previous night. Shrugging off the sheets he wearily worked his hands into his eyes and left towards the adjoining bathroom for a shower. He knew he probably shouldn't have taken after Max and left the goat's milk for some wine. At least he didn't drink three horns filled with the drink though like his companion.

Upon leaving his shower and getting dressed he stepped out into the main living quarters of the ship, barely looking at the entertainment and sound systems and instead glancing towards the large red couch directly in front of him. It was already occupied, the back of a head of short raven hair peeking over the top. He could hear the sounds of sniffling and he felt a slight twinge in his heart when he realized it was her. Riku sighed and calmly treaded lightly behind her before gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Riku," Yuffie said, startled. His hand slid off of her shoulder and he strode around the couch to look at her properly. The girl was a nervous wreck, and her eyes were red and slightly puffy. It looked as if she had been crying for a while. Riku sympathetically opened his arms slightly.

"Come here," he said. Yuffie reacted frighteningly quickly. As a blur she leapt from the couch and buried herself into his chest, her arms wrapping around his back and shoulders for support. For a few moments Riku did nothing, stunned as usual by how unpredictable the ninja was. And then his strong arms slowly moved under their own power to support her and keep her close while his heart wrenched. It wanted him to stay like this forever, but his mind feared it once he felt her shaking against him. He softly placed his chin on the side of her hair and soothed her, his arms gently rocking her back and forth.

"It's okay," he whispered calmly, his voice masking the torment he felt in his heart.

"Riku we need to find him," Yuffie said at last, her shoulders sagging while she calmed down. Her words were like a dagger to his heart, as yet to discover its true feelings for her but still feeling the pain of rejection.

"I know," he answered, barely keeping his voice under control. "We need him, and so does this world." He stretched his arms and held her at a length, studying her face carefully while still forcing his own to stay neutral. He saw the grief in her face and brown eyes, but there was something different about it compared to the one he had briefly seen when she had once thought him dead during the battle with the Decepticons. Absent-mindedly one of his hands began brushing through her short and silky raven hair.

There was the 'whoosh' of the door to Max's room and both of them turned to see Goofy's teenage son leaving it, his head hanging in one hand. His fingers were absently stroking the red headband he wore and he was groaning.

"I should not have done that last night," he moaned aloud to them before looking up, catching both older teenagers blushing slightly and standing away from each other. He raised one eyebrow. "Did I miss something?" he asked. Riku was quick to recover his composure.

"Nah," he said calmly, "Must be the hangover. How is it by the way?" Max groaned again.

"If my Dad knew, he'd put me off of drinking for life. And I think I'm going to do that anyway, apart from one drink."

"Let me guess," Riku replied with a laugh, folding his arms over his chest while he spoke. "Rum?" Max nodded his head predictably and laughed in reply.

"How'd you guess?" he asked. Riku jerked his head and began making his way out of the ship.

"Sora told me," he answered as he walked past. Max's eyes lost focus and he quickly shook his head before following Riku out of the ship. The doggish boy glanced behind him at Yuffie as they left the 'hut'. She had no longer donned the dress that Mrs. Geriatrix had made for her, and Max believed that she had probably stowed it in the closet of what had formerly been Kairi's room; and Donald's before her. Max remembered the sheer number of dresses that the three good fairies had made the princess and the sudden thought of Yuffie's in among them caused him to shake his head in wonderment. The answer to why girls needed so many clothes, and he was sure that there were at least twenty pairs of shoes in there as well, eluded him completely. Perhaps it was just one of those mysteries that would plague his kind for all time.

They entered the village and made immediately for chief Vitalstatistix's hut, a few of the villagers looking curiously at the three of them. Riku entered first, and saw that the chief was already sitting atop his lofty perch, Getafix and Obelix with his trusty Dogmatix standing nearby on the ground.

"Come in Riku," Vitalstatistix began. "We have much to talk about." Riku nodded curtly and stood in front of the high chair, Max and Yuffie falling in on his sides. Vitalstatistix nodded to one of his shield-bearers as they stood at the base of his chair and he produced the roman shield that bore the heartless emblem upon it.

"Now then," Vitalstatistix began again, stroking his red mustache while looking at the shield. "We are familiar with the shield, it's a roman design, but could you explain what that symbol is?"

"It's the emblem of the heartless," Riku answered, pointing at the symbol embossed on the front of the shield.

"The there can only be one explanation," Getafix surmised. "The heartless have taken the form of legionaries from one of the camps and have kidnapped Asterix." He then brought his finger down and placed it under his nose in thought. "Now, we only need to find out which fortified roman camp."

"How many are there?" Max asked.

"There are four," replied the druid, "Totorum, Aquarium, Laudanum, and Compendium."

"Why don't we look in Compendium first?" Obelix asked, looking up at Vitalstatistix. "It's the closest camp to the village, and if Asterix isn't there I'm sure he wouldn't mind us roughing the Romans up a bit without him."

"Yes, Obelix I'm sure he wouldn't mind," Getafix answered slyly. "I'll get started on brewing a cauldron of magic potion."

-A-D-

Under the direction of their druid Getafix the men of the village lined up in front of his golden cauldron, a fire crackling underneath and warming the magical brew that gave the drinker superhuman strength. One by one they each took a sip from his ladle and went to the side for the others in line.

"No Obelix," Getafix said sternly while holding out his hand when the well covered Gaul reached the front of the queue. "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. No magic potion for you."

"Just a teeny drop?" asked Obelix pleadingly. Getafix shook his head.

"Need I remind you Obelix that you fell-"

"-into the cauldron when I was a baby and so it had a permanent effect on me," Obelix recited in a grumble as he stalked away. Riku raised his eyebrows at the wizened druid when his party reached the front.

"It couldn't hurt could it?" he asked. Getafix glanced between Obelix's somewhat distant form and Riku.

"I wouldn't want to risk it," he replied, moving the ladle towards Riku and motioning for him to take a sip. Riku looked apprehensively at the brew, not quite trusting the potion.

"A little hesitant are we?" Getafix chuckled. "You will be the first from another world to try my magic potion. It may not work, but if you are willing…?" Getafix left his question open tantalizingly and Riku took the ladle from the druid and drained its contents in three swift gulps. It tasted a little like a good soup in his opinion, but he didn't feel any different after having it.

"Now then Riku," Getafix said with a twinkle in his eyes, "a quick test to see if it worked." He looked around for a moment before spotting Obelix, now grumbling that Riku got to have some of the potion. The druid glanced at the keyblade master and nodded slightly. Riku took the hint and his aqua eyes sparkled with a mischief they hadn't taken in weeks. The eyes of the villagers were upon him as he snuck up behind the great warrior. Catching him unawares, he snatched Obelix's foot and with the slightest effort heaved him into the air.

"I think that means it worked Riku," Max said, quickly taking his ladle-full as the villagers roared in laughter at the expression on Obelix's face. Yuffie even managed a small smile and giggle. The girl stepped forward and took her few sips, wiping her mouth with her forearm as Riku placed Obelix down again.

"I could've lifted him before," Riku shrugged with a slight smile. Vitalstatistix saw this from atop his shield and opened his mouth to speak.

"Now then," he began, drawing his sword with a ringing note to get everyone's attention, "To Compendium!" he roared.

"TO COMPENDIUM!" roared the chorus of voices in one unified cheer as they began to march out of the village behind their leader.

Through the forest, the brave warriors of the Gaulish village marched, the birds ceasing to sing in flight and the wild boar running away from the forest paths which the villagers frequented as they marched to the fortified Roman camp that lay just beyond the forest's borders in the northeast, hugging the coastline of Armorica. Riku kept up near the front with Vitalstatistix and Obelix, and Max and Yuffie stayed with him. Asterix was a member of the village but he was also a wielder of the keyblade, and a survivor of a war the young keyblade master had previously known nothing about. And despite the feeling of pain that he felt in his heart when he thought of the man, he masked it.

The first thing he wanted out of Asterix when he found him, was answers.

They came upon a Roman patrol just outside of the confines of the fortified Roman camp. With the magic potion on their side, the Romans never stood a chance.

"CHARGE!!" Vitalstatistix roared as his army rushed forward like a gale towards the six quaking legionaries.

"IT'S THE CRAZ-!" they shrieked before instantly being flattened by the superhuman strength of the warriors. The alarm was sounded in the camp, and the Roman soldiers rushed to try and defend their position against the horde. But they might as well have been stalks of wheat with how quickly they were cut down against the scythe that was the Gaulish village. Vitalstatistix knocked the first legionary out cold with a slap of his sword on the soldier's helmeted head. Fulliautomatix struck his hammer against the blocking shield of a Roman and sent the poor fellow streaking backwards through a line of his comrades, rendering each one of them unconscious. Geriatrix abandoned his cane and sent enemies flying with well rounded punches. Unhygenix repeatedly punched down his foes. Obelix ran amok in the camp, enjoying the fight as he swung Romans around and around by their feet before letting them go and plough into more Romans and the tents inside the camp.

Riku, Yuffie, and Max did their part too. In three seconds they battered down an adjoining wall onto the tents that Obelix's human missiles missed. Riku climbed a guard tower at one of the four corners and looked straight into the frightened eyes of the legionary.

"I SWEAR TO JUPITER I WILL NEVER DRINK WINE AGAIN!!" the Roman shrieked as he looked at Riku before passing out in fright. The boy rolled his eyes and blasted away the wooden roof of the tower to catch everyone's attention.

"I don't think Asterix is here!" he hollered down at the already won battle below. "These guys aren't heartless."

"Oh," Obelix murmured as he repeatedly slapped an already defeated legionary in the face while the rest of the villagers slowly gambled out of the remains of the camp.

"Yes," the legionary said through his black and blue face. "So you can put me down now." The Gaulish warrior looked at the legionary again.

"Okay," he said, simply dropping him down onto the ground before ambling out after the others after making a small tower of Roman helmets in his hand.

"That camp was a dead end," Max said, once again with Riku and Yuffie up near the front as they marched through the forest in a southerly direction.

"Not to worry Max," Vitalstatistix said calmly. "There are still three camps left. We just hit a snag; onwards to our next stop, Laudanum!"

Riku glanced around at the Gaulish warriors behind him, each and every one of them in high spirits after devastating a Roman camp, and his eyes took a thoughtful gleam. If these warriors could do so well against an organized force of soldiers, then maybe they would be up to the task of taking down heartless. He began to wonder about Asterix then. Why would the indomitable Gaul, probably knowing full well that his brethren could fight and defeat heartless, not wish to leave his world to protect the sanctity of others?

He wasn't given much time to brood on the subject however, as a quick glance at Yuffie's worried face gave him more doubts about his relationship with the ninja.

Apparently Laudanum had somehow been warned of their imminent attack, for when they arrived the entire camp was on full alert. A band of the legionaries had formed a shield wall in the shape of a ring in front of the entrance to the camp, blocking entry. It wouldn't have been a problem for the Gaulish warriors with their enhanced strength and speed, and the terror that they inflicted unto the enemy troops, but Riku held them back with a steady hand.

"We've seen how you all fight," he said with a slight grin, looking at the soldiers in front of him. "Now let's show you how we roll." Vitalstatistix nodded and the warriors of the village dropped back into the trees for the keyblade master, dog-youth, and great ninja to step forward. At first, the Romans let out a joyous shout, they'd only be fighting three foes and none of them were the ferocious Gauls.

They just didn't know that these three had an other-worldly kind of ferocity.

Riku looked over at Max with a steady smirk as his keyblade appeared in the silver-haired teen's right hand. Max's eyebrow flew into his forehead, matching Riku's smirk with one of his own as he unsheathed his sword from the scabbard on his back. Riku looked to his left at Yuffie, and the great ninja had already brought out her shuriken and was twiddling with it impatiently, letting it roll around each of her fingers. She caught Riku's look and gave a slight smile, which caused Riku's cheeks to gain a tiny tinge of pink before he could direct his aqua eyes away from her. He turned once more to look at the legionaries and slowly began moving towards them, keeping his timings slow and his paces long.

The wind whirled around the three, reddening leaves fluttering on the trees around them, the breathing of the three warriors calm and steady. The spear points and armour of the legionaries glistened in the sunlight, it rays glinting off of the metal and making the bristling shield wall a thing of beauty.

Riku picked up his pace, moving his legs faster and taking even longer strides as his walk fast became a run, Max and Yuffie alongside him. He arched his keyblade up near his head and gathered energy into it, causing it to glow with an orange light as the powerful magic surrounded it. Letting loose a roar of battle lust the keyblade master sliced his blade through the empty air, releasing the attack as a wave of energy the colour of the rising sun. The wave cut through the air and broke into the shield wall and camp itself, sending the entire band of legionaries that had defended the gate flying back as the front towers and walls collapsed. The three heard the crashing sounds of the soldiers dropping onto the ground as they charged into the camp that was rapidly falling into a state of disarray.

Yuffie let loose her shuriken, her weapon flying freely amongst the soldiers, cutting their spears asunder and denting their shields and helmets to the point where the men were knocked stone cold before boomeranging back to the ninja. She vanished into a puff of black smoke when one unfortunate legionary made to pass his gladius through her. His face was a showcase of his surprise when he found that his sword had passed through naught but air! He felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned around in time to see the girl he had just tried to stab with his sword kicking him in the face. He fell unconscious a tenth of a second later.

Max growled from his inner canine, letting his blade clash against the swords of the Romans. They were trained in the arts of fighting with their short swords and spears, and worked constantly to try and bring the doggish boy to his knees. Max realized with a pang that despite his sparring with Roxas that he hadn't really been formally trained in combat and the heartless he had fought were always practically mindless. These soldiers were different. Disciplined battle-hardened, and a trained fighting force.

Max suddenly wished that he knew at least a little magic to give him an edge over them. It was all he could do to repeatedly block and dodge their thrusts and slashes while keeping them from surrounding him. But then he remembered the magic potion that coursed through his body like a tonic and he suddenly laughed. He dodged a strike against him and went on the offensive, aiming his sword at a legionary. The soldier moved to block with his shield, but as soon as the sword struck the protective metal buckled and crashed into the Roman, the momentum carrying the soldier across the field and breaking through the ranks of his fellows. Max laughed again and blocked the strike of another Roman before sending the soldier a retaliatory kick to the chest, blasting him back to join the others in the blissful state of unconsciousness.

Riku kept all the soldiers cowering away from him in fear just by summoning his Guardian out of his back. None dared try to confront the keyblade master of dawn. Riku strode unopposed through the rapidly degrading camp towards the biggest pavilion in the fortified Roman camp of Laudanum, where the Centurion of the camp hid in fright. The near-silver haired warrior of Light entered the pavilion to see the Roman officer in his burnished bronze breastplate and armour quaking in his sandals and biting his nails off with a passion.

"You-" the centurion stuttered, his eyes frozen on the creature rearing out of the youth's back. "You can't be _human_! Oh Jupiter I pray you, rid this demon-child from my presence! I swear I'll never try and plot against Caesar again!" Riku rolled his eyes and dismissed Way to the Dawn from his hands and let the Guardian fall back into his person.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Riku said dismissively. "And my friends and I will leave just as soon as you answer my questions." The centurion nodded quickly, eager to get this person out of his tent as quickly as possible. "First question," Riku began, "who are you?" The centurion straightened up and tried his best to look dignified and important, hoping to regain some of his stature.

"Centurion Christmasbonus of the Great-"

"Yeah I get it," Riku interrupted. "Right now your 'great Roman army' is being whipped by a half-dog teenager and a ninja. So we'll skip right through that shall we?" Christmasbonus nodded rapidly and Riku continued. "Where is Asterix?" The centurion looked at him in surprise.

"You mean the blonde demon of a midget?" he asked. Riku nodded and the centurion laughed. "Ha! So one of us has finally been able to capture that runt! Well I'll be a satyr's uncle!"

"Just answer the question," Riku snarled, his keyblade appearing in his hand once again. The centurion paled at the weapon and quickly waved his hands in front of him.

"I don't know," he said quite rapidly, "but if _I_ had been the one to get 'im he'd be locked in a cage and on his way to Caesar before having an appointment with the lions in the circus." Riku nodded.

"Thanks," he said, striding out of the pavilion and leaving Centurion Christmasbonus in a state of fearful confusion. The seventeen year old raised an eyebrow when he left the pavilion as he looked around. Every single soldier of the fortified Roman camp of Laudanum was on the ground, moaning and groaning in various stages of consciousness with skin of multiple hues of blue. Yuffie and Max were exchanging a high-five, each of them laughing and joking while a teetering pile of helmets rested precariously in Max's left hand.

"Time to go guys," Riku called, walking towards one of the two remaining walls, this one facing the forest where he knew the Gauls were waiting. "I know where he is." Yuffie and Max looked at him and followed.

"You know where he is?" Yuffie asked skeptically. "But this isn't a camp filled with heartless." Riku shrugged.

"If their centurion is in control of the heartless it won't matter which camp he's in," Riku answered. "He's being shipped off to Rome." He stopped in front of the wooden wall, and examined it for half a second with indifference. The teen placed his hands together, forming a ball of orange energy in the space surrounding his hands before thrusting them both outward towards the wall. The magic struck with enough force that the wall's thick, high beams were like toothpicks shattering into tiny twigs.

Any Roman still conscious, including the centurion, immediately fainted.

-A-D-

"Rome?" Obelix asked, his hand flying to his helmet while they stood within Vitalstatistix's hut. "Oh poor Asterix. He's going to be fed to the lions!"

"Worse, I'm afraid," Getafix said keenly. "This is even more serious than we could have imagined."

"How so?" Vitalstatistix asked. Getafix looked at Riku first before answering.

"If what you say is true," he said, "then Asterix will probably be escorted to Rome with heartless as guards. They will have to travel through many towns and forts throughout Gaul and Italy just to reach the city."

"Just think of the number of people they can turn into heartless," Max finished, understanding where the druid was going with his assumptions. Getafix nodded his white-clad head.

"You are right Max," he said. "If the heartless make their presence known after taking the hearts of so many innocents, imaging what would happen if Caesar were to send an entire legion of soldiers against them. And why stop there? They could then leave this world altogether and plague others, creating a vast army of heartless that would be nearly impossible to defeat."

"So that's it then," surmised Yuffie, her expression crestfallen. "We need to find the caravan that holds Asterix and bring him back. But what about the heartless here?"

"We'll deal with them Yuffie," Vitalstatistix assured her. "Just make sure that you keep those heartless from wiping out all life on our world." Riku nodded before looking out of the hut at the sky, its blue slowly dipping into a rosy pink.

"Should we leave now and take the risk of leaving ourselves open in the night?" he asked himself, "or leave in the morning with all haste and hope we haven't wasted time?" Max heard his question and glanced between the older teen and Yuffie for a moment, his mouth slowly curling into a sly smile.

"Roxanne would never forgive me if I lost my heart," he said, stepping up to Riku. He let the statement hang over Riku for a couple seconds before opening his mouth to speak again. "And besides," he glanced back at Yuffie again, who was lacing her boot up, "I think you have a slight situation on the home front." Riku looked at him, his aqua eyes glancing around in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. Max placed an arm up to the older youth and dragged him out of the hut.

"Riku, have you noticed how distant Yuffie has been today?" Riku ignored his heart.

"Yes," he grunted angrily. Max took the point and nodded his head to shake off the hostility.

"Maybe you should spend tonight talking to her," he suggested helpfully. "With any luck it'll help."

"And how would you know?" Riku asked in rebuttal. Max simply laughed quietly.

"Remember what happened last time?" he answered, walking away from the silver-haired warrior. Riku stopped to ponder his words.

He truly envied Sora and Roxas right now, he decided. They could mostly read Kairi and Naminé like gloves, and if they couldn't, the two princesses were generally quick to forgive. But the hyperactive ninja that was now walking towards him was unlike any other girl he'd known, except perhaps slightly like Selphie. Oh, how he wished the feelings in his heart would just sort each other out and tell him what was right and what was wrong! He wished that they would stop torturing him already.

"Hey Yuffie," he said as she came up to him. She looked up, preoccupied, but appeared almost as if she hadn't heard him. Riku turned directly to face her, placing himself in her way. "Is something wrong?" A light seemed to click on in her eyes and she looked away from him ashamedly.

"Yes, no," she sighed quietly, "I don't know. I really don't know what to do right now apart from wanting to beat up some heartless." Riku gave a noise that was almost a cross between a grunt and a sigh, as if it couldn't decide which it wanted to be, and gently wrapped his arm over her shoulder, forcing his eyes to stay away from the appendage while Yuffie looked at it.

"We all want to do that," he said comfortingly. "But why don't we go back to the ship and talk?" Yuffie gave a feeble laugh and looked up into his face.

"Since when do you talk?" she asked sarcastically. He rolled his eyes as they began walking out of the village in the sun's lowering light.

"Yes; ha, ha, let's all poke fun at emo Riku because he can't be romantic with his girlfriend like his best friend can be with Kairi." Yuffie finally let out the first true laugh she had all day, much to Riku's annoyance.

"Riku you wouldn't know romantic if it hit you in the face," she teased.

"Says who?" Riku retorted, coming up the slightly worn path towards their 'hut'.

Yuffie replied, smirking, "Says me. That's who. And I bet Sora, Kairi, Roxas, Naminé, and King Mickey would back me up on my claim."

"Touché." Riku opened the door for Yuffie, conceding the romantic point but still trying to keep face and be a gentleman.

"You were slightly on par with that rose," Yuffie continued whilst nodding her head appreciatively in his direction and flicking the object in question that still lay within her raven hair, "but you certainly could have picked a better situation to give it in."

"You were still giving me the cold shoulder yesterday because of what happened back in Mission City," Riku argued, slightly bitter while he closed and locked the door. "What could I have come up with that would be romantic enough to break the thin ice I was on?" Yuffie turned and her eyes flashed disappointedly.

"Oh I don't know," she mused sarcastically, "Anything that any girl wouldn't like her man to do. Something like a nice candlelit dinner for two-"

"Do you think I can cook like Sora?" Riku interrupted.

"-a night out at a play or musical-"

"Not my kind of idea."

"-or just hanging out together on a comfy couch watching a chick flick with a monstrous bucket of popcorn to share and a freaking huge cup of pop," Yuffie finished, winking at him and giggling as Riku realized just what her last suggestion had been. His palm immediately met his forehead before sliding down the rest of his face.

He needed to stop taking everything so seriously. The idea was so simple it was brilliant, and it had whizzed right over his head. Maybe he should get some tips from Sora…

Scratch that, Sora would just laugh in his face.

"Oh, and FYI Riku," Yuffie said lightly, seeming to bounce on her heels while her brown eyes smiled at him from beneath her fluttering eyelashes, "just talking isn't romantic." Riku stared at her while she winked at him again and ambled off towards the cabin, his left eye twitching.

Was she just flirting with him and insulting him at the same time? Riku recovered and rolled his head and rubbed his neck.

"I so want to listen to my music right now," he moaned.

"Shouldn't we talk with Yuffie instead," a voice from the shadows spoke. Riku turned his head, and saw Max smirking at him, not surprisingly. He sighed and turned his head down in a pained expression, pinching the bridge of his nose slightly.

"Were you listening in on the whole conversation?" Riku asked, barely suppressing a note of embarrassment from his voice. Max caught it anyway and his grin widened.

"Yep," he answered slyly. "And I think you should know, the whole sitting on the couch thing and watching movies works." Riku sharply looked at Max.

"How would you know?" he asked. "The last time I checked, you weren't going out with Roxanne yet, and we had left Disney Castle before you could see her again." Max's expression hardened.

"Don't remind me about that," he answered. "I'll probably be in trouble for that when we get back." His tone considerably lightened then. "However, Sora wasn't exactly in the doghouse when he was wounded by Cossex, and they weren't chick flicks, but Kairi fell asleep on the couch that night with her head resting against his chest. I think Sora liked that."

"Hn," Riku remarked. "After the amount of time they spent denying how they felt I'm sure he enjoyed it." He then cocked his head enquiringly at the part canine. "How would you know anyway?" Max gave him a twisted smile.

"Because I was the one who placed the blanket overtop of them," he answered. Riku laughed and clapped Max on the back.

"You are more devious than I ever imagined," he said heartily. "That's exactly what I would have done, and then laughed at them in the morning." Max raised his eyebrow while his smile stayed.

"Well what did you think I did?" Riku laughed again and led the way away from the door towards the cabin. Yuffie was currently sitting on the big red couch with her eyes closed, the stereo sound system turned on and playing a calming rock song. Her head was slowly rocking back and forth in tune with the beat. Riku came up and sat next to her, waiting for a break in the song.

"So," she said, knowing he was sitting next to her. "What is it you wanted to talk about?" Riku stayed silent for a moment, wondering how best to put forth his question.

"Asterix," Max said bluntly from behind, swinging his legs over the couch to sit on the couch's back. Yuffie immediately stiffened and Riku sent Max a glare. The boy merely shrugged it off and looked at Yuffie's now open hazel eyes.

Her voice shook slightly as she answered. "Why would you guys want to talk about Asterix?" Riku glared at Max again, but also felt relieved that it wasn't him who had spoken about the topic of their query.

"Because you've been somewhat distant after we found out last night that he'd been captured," Riku responded carefully. "Did you-" Yuffie shook her head and sighed exasperatedly.

"No Riku," she answered quickly, turning her face away from him to hide behind her raven-hair. She didn't want him to see the tinge of pink that had crept into her cheeks. "I did like him, as a friend, but not in _that_ way." Riku's heart unclenched and he let out the air he hadn't realized he'd been holding. His spirits soared when Yuffie said that, and his face must have revealed his elation, because Max's attention had shifted away from Yuffie towards his beaming expression. Riku caught the sight out of the corner of his eye and quickly rearranged his features into what he hoped was more or less neutral while Yuffie continued.

"I think it was," she was saying, "that he was the one who fancied me." Now Riku felt his face harden of its own accord. "I suppose I was feeling guilty this whole time, because the last time I saw him he had taken me aside from the banquet last night and told me that he did fancy me. And then, well, I told him that I wasn't interested in him." Riku heard rather than felt himself give a slight grunt as he took himself off of the couch. Max raised an eyebrow and smiled at Riku while the swordsman slowly started moving away from the couch towards the blank television, the music Yuffie had been playing still sifting from the sound system.

"Twitter pated," the boy humorously remarked, drawing a confused look from Yuffie and a glare from Riku's aqua eyes.

"I am not twitter pated," he rebutted, "nor jealous." Max rolled his eyes.

"Right," he drawled, laced with sarcasm. Yuffie looked up at Riku, her eyebrow rising.

"Why are you jealous Riku?" she asked, her tone slowly taking on the same teasing manner that Max had. "It's not like I'm falling for the Gaul." Riku rolled his eyes at the pun but his comeback was still flustered slightly.

"Well, we are kinda dating Yuffie."

"Name one date we've been on," she replied casually, flicking her eyes down as she picked up a random magazine –Jitsus for the Ultimate Ninja- from one of the end tables beside the couch. Riku drew a blank in his mind and he swore he could almost hear crickets chirping.

Damn music soundtrack…

There was a loud bang that startled the three of them out of whatever reverie they had each fallen into and the trio glanced towards the hall where the landing ramp, and coincidentally the front door in the ship's morph. Riku and Max glanced at each other while Yuffie looked between the two, catching glimpses of their eyes.

"Were we expecting anyone?" Max asked, looking towards the hall again. The loud bang came again for a second and Yuffie tossed away the magazine.

"I'll see who it is," she said abruptly, standing up before vanishing in a puff of black smoke and reappearing a few feet behind the couch in another puff of smoke. As quickly as the boys' eyes sought her form out again they heard the door swing open, and the ninja hadn't even moved out of the cabin yet.

_That's really odd. I thought for sure I had locked the door behind me._

"Riku!" a chilling voice suddenly called. "I need to speak with you immediately." The three froze immediately. They recognized that voice, they had spent the day trying to find the person to whom it belonged to.

"Asterix!" Riku hollered. A moment passed with only the sounds of footfalls slapping on the metal floor of the _Highwind_'s front hall towards the cabin. The figure causing the footfalls rounded the slight bend to enter the cabin, and he stopped with a heaving chest.

Before them stood the short blonde Gaul they had worried so much about. The warrior panted heavily, and was wiping the lower half of his forehead that was left uncovered by his helmet. His black shirt was sticking to his chest and his green belt was fastened tighter than the last time Riku had seen him. The Gaul's blonde mustache and wavy hair was only slightly haggard, with a few sticks and brambles sticking out of it. The gourd on his belt was pierced and his sword short sword remained sheathed in its place, yet his leather shoes were the same as they'd always been. In one hand he held the reason as to why the group had been so desperate to find him.

Within his grasp lay the man's keyblade, the Indomitable.

Asterix looked up and started, seeing Yuffie as the closest person to him. He quickly regained his composure and dismissed his weapon while sweeping his helmet off of his head and bowing, revealing the bald spot on the top of his head.

"I apologize for my actions last night Miss Yuffie," he spoke honorably. "It was not from my heart from which I spoke and I should never have put you in such discomfort." Riku blinked in surprise, and he could see Max doing so as well while Yuffie shifted slightly backwards.

"It wasn't?" she asked. Asterix returned from his bow and placed his helmet back upon his head.

"No, it wasn't," he said, his eyes finding Riku and nodding slightly. "It was only recently that I realized that I had been bored of the life I have on my world, and meeting those of other worlds again so suddenly probably had something to do with the way I acted." His eyes glazed over in memory of days long past before he shook his head to clear it.

"But now we have more pressing matters," he said grimly, moving towards Riku. The keyblade master looked enquiringly at his fellow wielder, but his aqua eyes also sparkled knowingly. Asterix had been captured by the heartless; logically he would know where they are. And Riku was the most experienced on world with combating heartless. It only made sense that if Asterix was to escape that he'd seek out Riku.

"So," Riku said as Asterix hopped over the red couch to stand in front of the much taller teenager, "where were you?"

"Totorum," Asterix answered grimly.

"I knew we should have checked one more camp," Max moaned.

"What do you mean Max?" the Gaulish warrior asked.

"We totaled Compendium and Laudanum," Yuffie answered; "Laudanum with just the three of us, Compendium with the rest of the village." Asterix smirked.

"How did Obelix enjoy not participating?" Max cricked his neck.

"He didn't take too kindly to the number of helmets I had collected from our excursion," he stated. Asterix shook his head and returned to Riku.

"The entire garrison of Totorum has been turned to heartless," he reported. "Their Centurion Newyearus has willingly become one and is leading them. They will attack the village at dawn."

"And after that should they win?" Riku asked.

"March on Rome," Asterix said, "and create an army of heartless to assist Maleficent in conquering the worlds." Riku nodded and looked pointedly at Asterix.

"This is your world Asterix," he stated. "It's your decision. What would you like us to do?" Asterix smiled.

"We alert the village," he said. "Then prepare for battle, and after that…" the Gaul turned to look at the comfy red couch and promptly plopped onto it on his back, resting his head behind his hands over one of the pillows.

"I'm coming with you," he finished.

"Yes!" Yuffie exclaimed. "One more for us! Take that Maleficent!"

"And don't count out Obelix," Asterix said. "He'll go wherever I go."

"Great," Max said sarcastically. "We're going to have the bottomless pit come with us too. Does anyone actually know how to cook aboard this ship? Because I've really been hungering for some of Sora's or Kairi's cooking."

Yuffie looked at Riku questioningly. "Sora can cook?"

Riku barked a laugh. "Yeah. He's been able to cook for ages ever since his Dad died. In his opinion being the only child of a widowed mother can cause a person to do a lot of chores. He found cooking to be a lot more enjoyable than being forced to clean or sew, mainly because he could eat- or try to eat- what he made." Riku laughed again. "A lot a practice and a few trips to the clinic apparently helped out a lot."

"Well don't worry Max," Asterix said warmly. "I'm in much the same boat as your friend Sora."

"How?" the boy asked.

"Didn't anyone tell you that I've been a bachelor all my life?" Asterix asked. He then winked at Riku. "And I intend to stay that way for a while longer until I find someone who makes me…" he struggled, searching for the right word.

"Swoon?" Yuffie asked helpfully.

"Confused?" added Riku.

"Twitter pated," Max put in, earning a glare from Riku. Asterix glared at Max too.

"Bah," he said. "Whatever it is she makes me, I'll know when the time comes by Belenos." He shrugged himself off of the couch and stood, looking out towards the door.

"Now we'd best warn Chief Vitalstatistix."

-A-D-

The next morning dawned quiet. Not even the morning cock crowed and the sea itself almost seemed to hush as its waves lapped over the beaches and nearby shores of the Gaulish village. The smoke that normally curled from the chimneys of the huts within the village was stilled, and Cacofonix stilled his voice and lyre for the second morning in a row.

Every man in the village was assembled in front of Getafix's cauldron in the early morning light, the drops of dew still fresh on the grass and pockets of mist still formed around them. Riku, Asterix, Obelix, Yuffie, and Max all waited by the front gates of the village for the warriors to take their dose of potion. There likely wouldn't be more heartless than there were soldiers in each of the Roman camps they had sacked the day before, but these were heartless and the Gauls had never encountered them before, none of them knew how they'd react to fighting these creatures of darkness. Asterix and Obelix were stout of heart and prepared to fight, they had fought against warriors from the realm of darkness in years past, these heartless were not so different, and Riku's party was prepped from many past ordeals with the creatures. Way to the Dawn and Indomitable were present in the hands of their masters while Yuffie's shuriken was still away and Max's sword was sheathed across his back like always.

Riku strained to get a sense of the approaching heartless, not hard because of when he had fallen into the darkness and even given the power to control the creatures, but right now they were somewhat distant.

Even so, he could tell that they were moving, and swiftly.

He didn't need to look or use his hearing to know that by now the small trickle of Gauls coming back from their dosage of potion had now turned into the whole village behind them. Vitalstatistix was borne by his two shield bearers as usual, and his sword rested in his right hand.

"Are these creatures really as dangerous as you say?" he asked as he came out next to them. Riku nodded.

"They're more dangerous to Asterix and me," he answered. "Because they fear the keyblade, they will flock to those who wield it, and try to kill the wielder before it can kill them."

"Thanks for the confidence booster Riku," Asterix mumbled.

"Don't worry Asterix," Vitalstatistix said. "After all, we have nothing to fear but the sky falling on our heads."

"Pray to whatever God you worship that it doesn't," Max mumbled. He stiffened at the same time as Riku. With a slow, deliberate motion he drew the Defender from its sheath, the sound of the metal leaving its scabbard creating a ringing note. "I smell them."

"I sense them," Riku added. "They are very near now." The warriors breathing behind him heard his words and there with the flickering rings of swords being unsheathed from scabbards, the dull thud of Fulliautomatix's hammer being hefted into his hands, and the slight slap of palms on the wooden shafts and handles of axes. Nothing was heard for another minute except for the breathing of the warriors of the village; then the low drumming sound of many feet falling onto the ground.

Riku felt his excitement heighten as the sound's magnitude increased, his teeth were grinding against one another and his right hand was unconsciously twirling Way to the Dawn between its fingers in an endless loop. Yuffie pulled out her shuriken from next to him and her left hand rested lightly on the dagger sheathed to her belt's left hip. Obelix shuffled his feet impatiently.

And then they saw the enemy coming out of the mist. The entire garrison of soldiers marching in discordant ranks towards the village, each out of step with the other, the emblem of the heartless emblazoned on their shields. In front of the garrison of heartless were a full hundred neoshadows, their yellow eyes piercing through the mists and into the hearts of the Gauls, who for once felt fear. Leading the army was one heartless, taller than the rest, and yet he still appeared to be a man. Dressed in a purple breastplate over a purple fauld and a black crested helmet, the former Centurion Newyearus sneered at the village of indomitable Gauls. Riku was immediately reminded of the stories Sora had told of Shan-Yu's downfall. This man had given into the darkness in his heart and allowed himself to be a heartless; it made Riku's blood curdle with the familiarity of it all.

Asterix snarled when he saw Newyearus standing at the head of the army and he closed his eyes. His left hand went to his heart, balled into a fist while he moved his keyblade offensively in front of his body. The heartless lost all sense of possible discipline they may have had and broke ranks, charging towards the village. Asterix's eyes snapped open and his left arm returned to the side of his body.

"Hastega!" he yelled. Riku instantly felt a massive surge of energy flow into his limbs, so much that he felt he was like Selphie on one of her sugar-highs. His directed his mind towards the army of heartless and did the only thing he felt he could do at the moment. His legs carried him at a speed Riku would have never considered himself able to do before. The two keyblade wielders were the first to dash out towards the heartless army like a rushing gale, Yuffie, Max, and Obelix not far behind at all, under the influence of the veteran's haste spell. Riku used his powers of Dawn and let himself skate over the dew-ridden grass on golden streaks of light. He proved the swiftest of the group and broke into the enemy ranks, twisting around and running Way to the Dawn through the chest and up the head of a neoshadow. He turned it around and slashed another through the chest and quickly cut the legs and head off another. He turned his body and delivered a flurry of kicks to the chest of a neoshadow before slicing it in half just as the first was vanishing in a puff of black smoke. He brought his keyblade up in front of his face, gathering golden energy into his blade.

"Refraction Rays!" he said, swiping Way to the Dawn in a horizontal slice in front of him towards the swath of neoshadows in front of him. Bursts of the golden light shot out towards his enemies, bending and twisting around as they cut through the darkness the heartless were made of. Riku held his left hand out with an open palm and all the rays focused themselves into one ball in the center of the remaining neoshadows. He crushed his hand into a fist and the ball exploded, destroying the heartless into nothing more than black wisps.

Yuffie popped in amongst the heartless in a cloud of black smoke. Instantly she let her shuriken fly amongst them, tearing the neoshadows to shreds. As it flew she had drawn her shining white dagger and had passed it through the head of a neoshadow behind her while her left fist punched another. She rolled herself over the dazed heartless' shoulders and cut into its leg with her dagger before cleanly slicing through its abdomen. With a flick she sheathed her dagger and dropped into a handstand. Pumping her arms she shot up into the air in a roll just before a clawed hand could touch her. She came out of the roll and grabbed her shuriken before lightning arced out of her hand onto the metal. Yuffie flung her shuriken down to the place she had just left, where it embedded itself in the ground. With another flick of her wrist the lightning burst out of the shuriken and broke into the neoshadows, bringing them down. Yuffie twisted her body and vanished in another puff of black smoke. She instantly reappeared by her shuriken and pulled it into her right hand before slashing a downed neoshadow through the back with the weapon. She let her weapon fly again and dropped onto her back, twisting and swinging her legs to catch another neoshadow off guard. Her kicks knocked the heartless down and she rose in a rolling leap over the heartless, passing her swiftly drawn dagger through its head until it vanished into black fog.

Asterix broke his way through the remaining mob of neoshadows, careful to avoid those that Obelix was knocking senseless with his fists. His keyblade moved seamlessly against the black tide of darkness as he leapt and dodged artfully in a manner that he hadn't used since his experiences in the war. He felt young again as he threw himself into a circular spin and cut through the neoshadows. He recovered from his spin, not dizzy in the slightest, and cut down the one remaining neoshadow in his path towards the former centurion. The heartless looked at him and drew its sword as the horde of legionary heartless rushed forward.

Just then the village of indomitable Gauls, heartened and inspired by Riku and Yuffie's displays, broke into the midst and challenged the legionary heartless. To them, the warriors of the village offered a feast of strong hearts for them to devour, and they peeled off to engage. Asterix nodded at Obelix and the man rushed off gleefully to take on his share of not-quite Romans and to make sure that the villagers all fought fairly, namely leaving as many for him to destroy as possible. Asterix saw Riku join up on his left with Max on his right, Yuffie moving to help Obelix. Out of the corner of his eye Riku's head nodded and Asterix started the charge. His haste spell might now have ended, but they were still strong.

Riku fished for something in his jeans as he began skating again, pulling ahead of the other two. He finally grasped what he was looking for and pulled out the white baby charm.

"Stewie!" he yelled, tossing it up in the air. There was a flash of white light and from within the charm a toddler erupted, dressed in a yellow shirt and red overalls. In the toddler's hands he held two highly advanced ray guns.

"What is it?" Stewie snapped, dropping beside Riku and running just as quickly as the teenager, his little legs a red blur. Stewie jumped onto Riku's left arm and the teen flung him towards Newyearus. Stewie laughed and rolled throughout his jump before unfurling himself and unloading his two guns at the heartless, blasts of green in rapid fire. Newyearus blocked some with his sword, and others glanced off of his armour. Stewie dropped onto the ground behind Newyearus and fired another salvo at the heartless. The shots cut into his back and Newyearus tossed his sword at the toddler. Stewie quickly rolled backwards to dodge the sword and stuck his tongue out and pointed behind the former centurion. Newyearus turned to meet Riku's blade striking at his armour with a golden flash that blinded the heartless.

"HA HA!" Stewie yelled, jumping up into the air. "You shouldn't have minded yourself with me and worried about him!" Riku smirked and let golden flames with a slight tinge of darkness flare around his blade as the heartless jumped back and pried his sword out of the ground, trying to avoid Stewie's renewed plasma fire. Asterix and Max now came up next to Riku, and the three swords moved in a flickering dance against Newyearus as he continually struggled to block and dodge the three warriors of light.

He hadn't expected it to be this difficult. He had believed that turning into a heartless, a being of darkness, would be the solution. But these warriors of light, together they were strong. They were too strong to defeat alone. He blocked another strike of Riku's and ducked under the flash of golden energy coming from his keyblade, but his arm received a painful gash from Asterix's blade and more wisps of darkness came from the wound, adding to the burns and damage that Stewie's guns had done to his body. He kicked out and caught Max in the chest, but the boy's removal from the fight did nothing for him.

Stewie clapped both of his ray guns together and fired a concentrated blast at the legs of the dying heartless. Asterix and Riku leapt away from the explosion and they tossed their keyblades directly into the conflagration. Riku's blade pierced through the breastplate of the heartless in a shower of golden flame and sparks, and Asterix's keyblade embedded itself in the head. There was a pained, unearthly shriek and their keyblade appeared in their hands once more as a large heart rose into the sky.

"He should have worried about me," Stewie commented in satisfaction before kicking behind him and bringing the last errant legionary heartless to its knees before suffering its head to a blast from his ray guns, turning it to smoke. "HA!"

-A-D-

_Sorry about the long update people, but I had a bit of a brain lapse, coupled with the weight of the realization that I'm graduating high school in just over a month finally hitting me._

_As always:_

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	3. Hospital Blues and Rulings

_If you all haven't seen Dead Fantasy I or II, go to gametrailers and watch them. They are both made by **MontyOum**, the same guy who brought us Haloid, better known as Master Chief vs. Samus Aran. And after you've finished watching Dead Fantasy, watch the world premiere of Dead Fantasy II as shown at the 2008 Boston anime convention and listen to the audience's reaction when a certain character arrives in DFII._

_Those videos are freaking amazing. I've downloaded them both and I never get tired of watching them._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, or anything else that isn't mine. The deed that Roxas remembers committing is from __**Wyrmhero**__'s 'Chaos from Order', and __**Mr. Fipp**__ owns Tom. And I've already said numerous times that I don't own songs._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter III: Hospital Blues and Rulings

Roxas felt like he was in severe pain, even though his body felt relatively little pain at all. His face was cringing in disappointment at his left arm that still lay wrapped in the sling, but he was at least glad that the IV tube that had been inserted into him was out. However, because of the IV's removal, he no longer received nutrients from the bag that would simply flow into his body, which meant that he had to eat, explaining his pain.

It wasn't that he was hungry, and it wasn't that he was still sore from the beating he had taken from Nixion, and it wasn't even that his back hurt from lying conscious and unconscious in a bed for the better part of the time since he had woken up in the afternoon the previous day. What really caused his pain was the fact that he was in a hospital.

He felt fine; he really did apart from the inconvenience pain caused by the burns and almost healed cuts on his body. And his left arm felt completely normal. When he moved it the limb no longer caused any pain and he felt like he could use it to its full strength again. But, being in a hospital, they didn't really care how he felt that he felt.

So instead of what Roxas would have liked to eat, such as a nicely barbequed steak with a side of mashed potatoes or fries and smothered in gravy and a plate of coleslaw, he got the hospital special:

Horribly tasting soup broth of a flavour that was supposed to be chicken. The soup didn't taste a thing like chicken. He only felt worse when he had heard that Naminé, who he knew for a fact had been injured far worse than he had, had been given the ultimate girl comfort food of chocolate.

He suspected her being a princess had something to do with it, or someone evil must have smuggled it in. He swore that if that was the case he'd find whoever did that, threaten them, and then get them to bring _him_ some chocolate. There was only so much food related torment he could take, given that it hadn't been very long that he'd actually been able to eat again. And he was a teenage boy, it was his own inherent nature to love food, especially considering that Sora had been his somebody and was now his twin brother. If food was a God, Roxas would worship it before eating it.

As long as it tasted good, which left Roxas as a non-believer in the soup that was steaming on a tray in his lap.

He frowned at the liquid and dipped his spoon into it again, wishing very much that it actually tasted like poultry and had some substance to it. He scowled as he brought his spoon up to his lips and tasted it again, trying desperately to ignore its taste while a song coincidentally played on the radio.

_Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it;  
Open up your mouth and feed it.  
Have some more yogurt, have some more spam;  
It doesn't matter if it's fresh or canned.  
Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it;  
Don't you make me repeat it.  
Have a banana, have a whole bunch;  
It doesn't matter what you have for lunch.  
Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it  
Eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it_

Roxas groaned as he listened to the musical parody. Firstly: he hated the original song. Second: he did not like the present situation while that song is being played. Thirdly: did he mention he hated the original? He sighed as he came to terms with himself. He didn't hate the original song, and he couldn't say that he didn't like the parody either (they were actually both quite good in his opinion), it was just that he didn't like the situation he found himself in. Even when his arm had been broken the first time during the battle in the Castle that Never Was he'd still been able to play a part in the struggle against Maleficent. He admitted that it wasn't a very significant role, training with a ragtag group of teenage freedom fighters.

Then again, wasn't that exactly what their little band of keyblade wielding heroes and friends was? He racked it up in his head, also trying to class everyone into the roles they seemed to fall into. The main group that went around defeating evil twice had always been Sora, Donald, and Goofy: The paladin, the mage, and the warrior, who (despite getting along quite well) differed quite differently in their own personal tastes and had been prone to somewhat petty arguments, generally with the hot-headed Donald. Then there was Riku: a dark paladin, King Mickey: Roxas wasn't exactly sure _what_ to class the King as apart from a paladin that wielded a keyblade from the realm of darkness, and Ansem the Wise: a scholar, all of whom acting independently of each other. And then there was Kairi, the damsel who always managed to get captured by the bad guys for Sora to come rushing to her rescue.

And now who all did they have Roxas wondered. There was still Sora, Donald, and Goofy (even if they were split up), and Riku and King Mickey, but now Kairi had actually entered the fight and so had he and Naminé as more paladins he could say. Yuffie, Max, Axel, and Mulan with Mushu had come in: ninja, warrior, Axel's exact classification escaped him but he wanted to say a warrior/fire mage, warrior, and dragon. And then there came the new group of youth that wanted to fight. Anar and Isil wanted to be warriors and showed aptitude with their heavy broadswords. Tidus, Hayner, and Selphie liked their swords as well, each of them holding them easily in one hand, and they were all pretty quick on their feet with Selphie surprising him as being the fastest, but Tidus seemed to be favouring a look towards magic while Hayner was trying to come up with 'killer special moves' as the boy put it and Selphie looked like she wanted some kind of offhand. Either way, the three of them were coming together to become fine warriors. Wakka, and Kia, were looking to be rangers with Wakka throwing his spiked blitzball around, Kia using her bow, and Yazoo as a gunner with his unique pistol, and then Olette, Pence, Jeffery, and Charlie were a group of mages, but what they were going to specialize in Roxas couldn't fathom just yet.

And Roxas couldn't count out the friends and allies that Sora, Donald, and Goofy made on their adventures. There was the crew from Radiant Garden of Leon, Aerith, Tifa, and Cid (taking out Yuffie), a warrior, white mage, fighter, and pilot; The Gullwings of Yuna, Rikku, and Pain as a gunner, thief, and warrior. Twilight Town's Disciplinary Committee of Seifer, Fuu, Rai, and Vivi as a warrior, fighter, brawler and mage. Agrabah had Aladdin as another thief/warrior, and from the Pride Lands came Simba the lion. Prince Alain's Castle brought the former Beast back as a fine prince and adept fencer. Hercules and Auron from Olympus Coliseum as a good brawler and exceptional warrior, the pirates of Port Royal, Tarzan was another warrior out of Deep Jungle. Merlin the wizard and Master Yen Sid as two insanely powerful mages. Cloud, wherever he was, as probably their best warrior. That Tom character (he was probably the one who smuggled in chocolate) as another thief. Aiwemon and Menelmon from the Digital World kept changing classes depending upon their current stage of digivolution, if he understood what Sora and Kairi had told them correctly. And Jack Skellington from Halloween Town as a, a…

Roxas scrunched his nose up and looked away from his soup again to gaze out of the window. What exactly was Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King? He was a dancer, an entertainer, and he liked to sing and frighten while also casting magic. So a bard maybe? A strange bard/mage mix? And then when he took into account the backgrounds of everyone… And then there would be more people that would come to their side and… he wondered who would be next. A psychopathic toddler bent on universal domination?

Roxas laughed at the absurdity of it all and at himself. Here he was, sitting in a hospital bed with horrendous soup steaming on his lap, not even a soggy cracker to eat, thinking about their truly ragtag group and classifying everyone into stereotypical classes from RPGs. He had way too much time on his hands to just sit around and think.

Roxas looked at his soup again, scowled, and shoved the tray away despite his hunger pains. There was no joy in what they called food. He'd had at least half of it so they'd be happy when they took it away. The PA system sounded a random announcement, a phone call for some doctor on line three, and Roxas looked away again to the wall-mounted television set in his room. It, apart from the radio, was the only source of entertainment he had apart from his mind and the window. He flipped on the TV, switching over to the Comedy Network since it was the only thing that had any shows of value at this time of day.

He probably would've been absorbed into it and laughed himself silly had his mind not been preoccupied with his earlier musings about the party. There were so many variables that the possibilities were mind-boggling. The summons that randomly appeared as worlds vanished, unknown people and creatures from other worlds that they could yet still meet. Politics. Anything could happen now.

Anything could happen, which infuriated Roxas. If anything could happen then that meant that anything horribly bad could happen as well as wonderfully good. Sora really could lose his arm like it showed on his platform. The prophecy could refer to either Kairi or Naminé, meaning that either he or Sora wouldn't get their princess, or that their children would be the ones to be forced to fight evil. Roxas laid his arm out and turned over in his bed underneath the sheets and the turquoise hospital clothes.

He'd never even _considered_ a future before. He'd always been living in the here and now just like Hayner was most of the time. Even back in Organization XIII Roxas had lived for the moment and not for the future. He vividly remembered a prank that he and Axel had pulled on Marluxia. They had snuck into his room in the Castle that Never Was and painted all the walls a vibrant light pink. Naminé had been in on it as well, and painted The Graceful Assassin's spare scythe and all the flowers in his room pink. That scythe was so beautiful he was sure that someone would want to hang it up in an art gallery. Roxas was sure that Naminé enjoyed doing it too. The three had even gone so far as to place a large glob of pink paint into the nobody's shampoo bottle, turning his hair a dark pink. And then Xemnas had actually laughed at Marluxia.

Roxas let a laugh escape his lips that had nothing to do with the sketch on the TV and rolled over again, switching the set off with his uninjured hand. What _did_ the future hold for him apart from combat? He knew that he wanted Naminé in it, and preferably every one of his friends as well, but after the heartless were gone and Maleficent defeated, what then? He supposed he'd go to school along with Sora, but, what would he do? His entirety of expertise lay in fighting. Even if he did find a job of some kind there was still the more distant future of him and Naminé, possibly together. Did he want to marry her? Yes, but not yet; but to have _children_ with Naminé? The idea was ludicrous. He knew that even while the both of them teased Sora and Kairi often enough with Max about sex, he was absolutely terrified of the idea.

But then King Mickey had also made him a knight of Disney Castle and he had knelt before the monarch to accept, which meant that there would probably be obligations towards his King that he would have to fulfill. And Naminé was now a princess of Radiant Garden, so she had her own duties to fill. However, there was now a democratic government in place, Kairi and Naminé needed to be seen as no more than figureheads.

He envied Sora. Everything seemed to come so naturally to the boy that had formerly been his other. Even something as simple as giving his girlfriend a kiss Sora seemed to be able to perform so effortlessly. Roxas would never admit it to Sora, but when he had first kissed Naminé when she had barged into Sora's mind all those weeks ago, it had nearly ended in disaster. Their teeth had somehow managed to clash against one another and he had almost bitten Naminé's lip. It was an experience he and Naminé wouldn't be sharing with anyone for a long time.

Someone entered his room and Roxas broke up his thoughts again to look towards the kind Dr. Fraiser as she stood before his bed.

"Are you ready for us to take the sling off Sir Roxas?" she asked with a smile. Roxas looked at her in confusion for a second before glancing at his left arm.

"Finally," he muttered, letting a nurse unfasten the white cloth that kept his arm stuck to his side. He politely thanked the nurse as he moved away with the untied sling, and Dr. Fraiser came up to him. She took his arm in her hands and gingerly began moving it slowly in varying directions, asking Roxas constantly if he felt any pain while she moved it. He politely told her no each time and after a while Fraiser stopped and looked at him critically.

"Well, the arm checks out," she said, "but now it's time to change those bandages and apply more paste." Roxas sighed and pulled off the turquoise gown he'd been dressed in and sadly looked down at the white bandages wrapped around his chest. He distinctly remembered Sora when he had bandages wrapped around him, and he felt a pang of sympathy now that he could relate to what his brother had been going through.

"Hey Doc," Roxas wondered as another nurse took out what was left of his lunch while the doctor changed the wrappings, "do you think that I might be able to get some real food tonight?" Fraiser smiled at him and tightened the last knot, causing a small grunt to escape the teen's lips.

"I'll see what I can do," she said. There was a sudden crash from outside and both of them turned to look in intrigue as they heard a certain crimson haired former nobody and a small red dragon yelling.

-A-D-

"I'm bored, got it memorized?"

That was the statement Axel had been saying every fifteen minutes as he lay strapped to his bed in the hospital of Radiant Garden in another ward. Mushu and Tom were both inside keeping him company, or in better words, trying not to go crazy.

"Man I hear yah," Mushu said with his arms folded over his scaly yellow chest. "I don't know what I'd do if they strapped me to a bed with no entertainment."

"You'd annoy the 'ell out of everyone," Tom stated in his thick cockney accent. "Why do you think Mulan isn't in here with us?"

"It's because the beautiful woman hates me," Axel sighed. "That's why." Mushu waved it off.

"No way Axel," he comforted. "She doesn't _hate_ you; Mulan just doesn't like you hitting on her all the time, especially with what happened to her world and Captain Manly." Tom raised an eyebrow.

"Who's Captain Manly?" he asked. Axel laughed.

"I think he meant Shang," he said. Mushu nodded his head and glared at Tom.

"It was supposed to be a joke! Captain Li Shang is a MAN. Captain MAN-LI, Manly!" Tom groaned and they heard the sudden chirping of another one groaning.

"Be quite Cricky," he muttered before whipping around and staring at the little purple and blue cricket on the floor. "Cricky!" Mushu bounded off of the bed and scooped the little bug into his arms, cuddling him up next to his cheek as the cricket placed four tiny legs against Mushu in a tiny hug. Cricky began chirping quietly.

"Ah, I missed you too you little lucky buddy," Mushu said. A glint appeared in Tom's mischievous eyes.

"Lucky eh?" he wondered aloud, his eyes straying to the wheelchair next to Axel's bed.

-A-D-

Roxas forced himself off of the bed in his room, careful to don the turquoise hospital gown so that whosoever happened to be in the hallway at the time wouldn't cause him unknown embarrassment. He didn't buckle up, he was only going into the hall for a peek after all, and swiftly followed behind Dr. Fraiser, who was looking at the scene with a stern frown. Roxas fought very hard for a moment not to laugh before he couldn't hold it in any longer. He laughed, but it caused him pain to do so.

Axel was sitting on the ground, sopping wet in the soup that used to belong to Roxas, fuming with a broken bowl spinning on two of the conical spikes that defined his hair and yelling his head off at Mushu, who was gingerly holding a small cricket in his hands. Tom was nearby them, holding his sides to prevent his ribs from cracking in laughter, standing beside a wheelchair and a fallen metal cart. There were burn marks on the floor and walls and one of Axel's chakrams was stuck in the wall, supporting half of what used to be a vase of carnations, and the other was embedded in the ceiling.

"You said that that cricket was lucky!" Axel roared at Mushu.

"Cricky never said that you could do that to him," the red dragon retorted. "Didn't you Cricky?" The tiny cricket chirped and shook his head. "All right now that's what I'm talking about. Come on Cricky, let's go show Mulan you're alright."

"Axel," Dr. Fraiser began sternly as Mushu walked past her and Roxas, giving the pained teenager a slap on the hand as he passed, earning a glare from the soggy pyromaniac. "How did you manage to get yourself free?" Tom stopped laughing and suddenly vanished as he teleported out of the area, earning the empty air another one of Axel's glares.

-A-D-

With all seriousness set into his face, King Mickey looked at the people sitting in front of him. The current Prime Minister of Radiant Garden Squall Leonhart, better known as Leon, and Urophi Magellan, the mayor of Twilight Town. The three of them were sitting at a long mahogany conference table in a secluded War Room in Disney Castle. The room itself had been hastily restored, having not been used for the better part of the last eighteen years, but its tiled white floors still gleamed a little after the pounding they had taken years ago.

"I'm sorry we have to hold this meeting fellas," King Mickey said. "But the threat has just gotten too great."

"I concur," Urophi said with a nod of his head, patting his balding ginger hair.

"So do I," Leon added. "But, I'm afraid that I won't be of much help here." King Mickey looked at him.

"Why's that Leon?" he asked.

"Because of parliament," Leon replied. "Ralph Manish, leader of the opposition, called for a vote of no confidence yesterday, and it passed. So, our government is dissolving and we won't be able to do anything of value."

"That's a pity," Urophi said. Leon shook his head.

"No, it isn't," he replied with a slight smile. "I told Manish to do it."

"What?" Mickey asked. "Why would you ask him to dissolve your government?"

"It's simple your majesty," Leon answered. "Ralph Manish is just about the only politician of the bunch that I trust to do what is right. Nobody in my own party wants to have this war, but the people are infuriated with them as their representatives. Most of them demand justice against Maleficent and the heartless, and are willing to exact it themselves. I'll retire myself from politics and let the others handle the politics."

"And then they can appoint you commander," Urophi said slyly. "How very clever Squall." Leon laughed dryly.

"Commander of what? We don't have any sizable army. The small air force that we have isn't even ours, despite whatever anyone says. They came from another world and call themselves Osean pilots. How they got to the Garden is beyond me."

"Where is Osea?" Urophi asked, looking between King Mickey and Leon. Mickey placed a hand to his chin in thought.

"Hm, I think I may know… yes I remember now. Osea is a principle country in that world. They were fortunate enough in the last war to avoid contact with the wielders and armies from the Realm of Darkness; they have enough troubles of their own."

"Well, it may be a good thing to send them back to their own world then," said Urophi.

"If we knew where it was," Leon muttered, "we would in a heartbeat." King Mickey sighed and both of his friends looked at him.

"Actually, we do know where their world is," he said grimly, "as well as a good many other worlds in our realm that were scouted years ago."

"How?" Leon asked.

"Star Command," King Mickey answered. "It was formed during the war as an effort to promote peace throughout the worlds and command our forces on a galactic scale."

"Ah yes," Urophi mused, stroking his chin. "I remember them now. I suppose that it was Star Command that took up a great portion of the excess war materiel after we won?" Mickey nodded.

"They did," he said. "And Star Command also moderated the peaceful resettlement of the homeless throughout the galaxy."

"Why didn't I know of this?" Leon asked. Mickey looked away for a second before meeting Leon's eyes.

"Soon after the war was over and all settlement was finished, people quickly began forgetting about the war and the unity all the worlds had shared. They chose to put the past behind them and politically isolate each world."

"We all adopted policies of isolationism," Urophi added quietly. "In those days, since most of the keybearers fell in battle, and then after the tragedy of master Xehanort, it made more sense that we should cut ties with the other worlds." He sighed and ran his head over his forehead. "How very wrong we were."

"And now none of us are prepared at all to wage a war against Maleficent and her heartless," Mickey finished solemnly. "The only defence we have at the moment are the few wielders we have and Star Command, and even it has become lax and is in a process of de-armament."

"Not quite your majesty," Urophi said. "In Twilight Town, we have managed to maintain an army of fifteen hundred soldiers; however we have no ships or pilots to fly them."

"We only have a standing military of less than fifty in Radiant Garden, not counting the AWACS and Osean squadron," said Leon, somewhat ashamedly. "Despite the attacks of the heartless, we placed more confidence in our security system and were busy focusing on reconstruction."

"It's alright Leon," Mickey said. "We know of the problems you fellas have faced just getting the Garden back to the way it was before, and more and more is being recovered and restored every day." Leon shook his head.

"It won't matter how far we've come if we aren't able to defend the Garden again," he sighed. "But, in few weeks or so, elections will be held, with luck Manish will win, and then he'll call for the creation of a true army of Radiant Garden. We won't need conscripts if public opinion is able to stay in its current mood."

"But there's still a problem we all seem to have missed," Urophi said. "Ships and pilots. Armies are all well and good, but if we don't have any ships to carry them in what good are they?"

"I've already ordered construction of a fleet," King Mickey said. "Star Command will provide the pilots and crew for the Capital ships." Urophi shook his head.

"That would just be too much of a drain on Star Command," he argued. They sat silent for a few moments, and Urophi looked at Leon, an idea forming in his mind.

"Squall," he said, attracting Leon's attention, "your world doesn't have much of a military force, but as you have said, it will soon have one, correct?" Leon nodded his head, the idea taking root in his own mind. Urophi ploughed forward, "Why don't we ask Radiant Garden to train the pilots and crew for the space fleet?"

"That is a good idea Urophi," Mickey said, "but we need to think collectively. If Twilight Town provided the army, Disney Castle and Star Command the fleet, and Radiant Garden the pilots, what would happen if one of our worlds was to be successfully defeated? The ramifications on the unity and strength of our collective forces would be disastrous."

"Fair point," Urophi said with a nod of his head.

Leon nodded. "Then what you're suggesting Mickey is that we each have a hand in each branch of our forces, we each need an army and navy to work with in order to support the others."

"But that's a problem as much as a solution," Mickey answered. "What we don't have is time. Time to build and time to train. Maleficent and her allies could strike at any time again, anywhere across the galaxy."

"Then we'll make time," Urophi said. Leon raised an eyebrow.

"How? We've all been caught off-guard."

"We can call Maleficent to a peace conference," Urophi said passionately. "While we tie her up in negotiations, we build up our forces to try for a counter-attack!"

"That won't work," Mickey said quietly. "She's already come to Disney Castle, offering terms of peace. She's already made it clear that she'll accept nothing less than total victory."

"And we'd be abandoning everything Sora, Donald, and Goofy have fought for," Leon added with a shake of his head. "I don't know about you your majesty, but I'm not willing to turn my back on the kid."

"Neither am I," Mickey said, turning his gaze towards Urophi. "Are you grateful for what Sora and his friends and new brother have done for Twilight Town, mayor?" Urophi's head flew backwards in shock at the question.

"Well, of course I'm grateful," he said in a flustered voice. "He rid the worlds of that Organization XIII and took out the nobodies infesting the tunnels. I don't know where we'd be without him."

"You wouldn't," Leon answered smugly. "And neither would we." Urophi shook his head quickly.

"But the boy has nothing to do with this," he argued, trying to get back on topic, "I have to think about the safety and security of my world."

"Master Sora has everything to do with this," King Mickey answered, smiling smugly at the smirk that had just appeared on Leon's face and at the thoughtful expression Urophi's own had taken. He was quite tickled himself, calling Sora by his rank and title of keyblade master when the boy was still just that, a teenage boy not even sixteen. "Your plan actually isn't very honorable on our part, despite the fact that it's Maleficent we're dealing with. But Sora and the other wielders are the ones we must think about right now if we're to survive."

"Sir Roxas and Princess Naminé are still in hospital in Radiant Garden from battling Nixion in Twilight Town," Leon said, sending a look at Urophi.

"Yes, quite," the mayor said, looking down ashamedly for his earlier comments.

"Riku is out with Max and Yuffie," King Mickey added, "Asterix from Gaul hasn't contacted anyone since the end of the last war, and Sora and Princess Kairi's location is still unknown, which is troubling."

"If Maleficent had them we would know it," Urophi said.

"I agree," Leon added. "If she had come across and beaten them, she would have immediately let us know."

"Then we have to agree that wherever they are that they're safe and hopefully together," Mickey said, to which the other two nodded.

"But that isn't of help to us at the moment," Urophi mentioned.

"Unfortunately no," Mickey conceded with drooping ears. "We're just too few and too strained. Maybe sometime soon Sora and Kairi will come by a means to contact us."

"But there's another problem concerning the princess," Leon sighed, rubbing his nose and closing his eyes.

"What's this now?" Urophi asked, getting rather tired with the number of problems they had to deal with at this meeting.

"We don't need to go into great detail right now," Leon said, "but it's something we should think about until all is said and done."

"What is it Leon?" Mickey asked, his ears perking up.

"It's about Kairi and Naminé," Leon said. "Since Naminé has become whole, both she and Kairi are the princesses of our world."

"And…?" Urophi asked, leading Leon onwards.

"Right now we have a democratic government, however, in the history of Radiant Garden we've been under autocratic leadership for years beyond count. There had been the Royal Family of Talerith for generations until King Raithen and Queen Keila were killed almost ten years ago, along with Crown Prince Raifeor. How Kairi survived that night, we may never know. Regardless though, after the sketchy deaths of the King, Queen, and Prince, and Ansem the Wise sent Kairi to live on Destiny Islands, Ansem himself took power to maintain the peace, and his rule was as just as the King's before him. Even after Xehanort, the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee was in charge as we tried to rebuild. Even now, the people of Radiant Garden are getting frustrated with the new democratic form of government."

"The point that I'm trying to get across is this," Leon said. "After this war is over, they are going to want one of the two princesses to become Queen of the Garden, just like in the old days."

"So either Sora or Roxas gets to become King," Urophi mused with a slight chuckle. "That'll make them happy." Leon smiled and shook his head.

"Neither of them will get to become king," he said. "Firstly, either princess will become the ruling queen, so they'd just become a prince. Secondly, the people will want the new queen to marry nice, with one of the new nobles or earls that will probably start showing up throughout society as the boundaries of the kingdom grow. We've even had twenty thousand leave the city already to form another two towns. And with the rate at which people are coming back from the darkness when Radiant Garden was Hollow Bastion and under Maleficent's direction, and those who are moving in from Traverse Town, there's going to be a lot more in the next two years alone."

"Whelp, I think that the people of Radiant Garden will just have to settle for two keyblade masters as spouses for their future queen and princess," Mickey said with a smile. "Because those two girls won't settle for anyone else." Leon smiled as well.

"I thought as much myself," he chuckled.

Urophi cleared his throat. "Well now that that's settled, for now, why don't we work out the details of a defensive plan for our three worlds?"

King Mickey and Leon agreed, and over the next two hours they debated how they were going to be able to defend just three worlds from the prospect of invasion. The first point agreed on was to send the AWACS Thunderhead and Wardog Squadron back to their home world. After that, Radiant Garden wasn't in much position to do anything, so Star Command would have priority in defending the space above that world. Disney Castle would immediately put into action a training program for pilots and those wishing to join the knights, as would Twilight Town for their military. Disney Castle would also send whatever pilots that it was able to spare aboard small ships to lay in orbit over Twilight Town to protect it, and since Disney Castle had the Cornerstone of Light, it was still safe from Maleficent, however, they agreed that it wouldn't stay that way for long.

"And there is one more thing," Mickey said at the end of it all. "Donald, Goofy, and I are leaving Disney Castle tomorrow."

"You can't leave now!" Urophi said, standing up angrily. "Has everything we've discussed here been meaningless if you're going to leave?"

"I assure you it isn't," Mickey answered coldly. "It's just that the world the three of us were going to travel to in order to seal its keyhole has come under attack by heartless. It wouldn't be if we hadn't turned back to return to Disney Castle."

"And if you hadn't turned back when you did the keyhole to darkness would still be open in the World That Never Was and Maleficent would have even greater power and a vastly larger army," reminded Leon. "But go and do what you have to, we'll hold until you return."

"We'd better hold," Urophi muttered grimly. "If she attacks again while you're gone we have no wielders to defend us."

-A-D-

Two of the said wielders sat side-by-side in wheelchairs in Shinra hospital on Radiant Garden. Both of them were smiling and joking with each other as two nurses wheeled them down the halls towards the cafeteria. Dr. Fraiser had pulled some strings and had been able to get them access to some 'real' food for their supper that night. Naminé was recovering from the extensive electrical burns she had received in the battle with Nixion, and was glad that Roxas' left arm was at last healed while he still recovered from his own burns and wounds from the Keeper of Storms.

"So how did you get chocolate?" Roxas asked Naminé. She smiled, both outwardly and inwardly.

"Princess," she answered with a slight giggle.

"Now, you see, that's not fair," Roxas argued, much to Naminé's delight. She only half listened to his complaining as to why he should get chocolate. Even though they had only been apart for a day or so, she had missed the sound of his voice, and his smile.

"-Axel?" Roxas finished, looking at Naminé. She blushed and shook her head, suddenly realizing that she was staring at him.

"Sorry, what was that?" Roxas laughed and Naminé stuck her tongue out at him.

"I was asking if you heard or saw what happened to Axel," Roxas repeated.

"Oh. No I didn't. What did he do?" Roxas placed his hands together as the two of them were wheeled to opposite sides of the same table in the cafeteria.

"Well apparently Tom cut Axel free of the bonds that restrained him to his bed so he wouldn't keep hitting on all the nurses, and Axel got into his wheelchair. Tom swiped Mushu's friend Cricky, who's apparently lucky, and placed him in Axel's hands while Axel juggled his flaming chakrams and four fireballs down the hospital corridor at high speed, without his seatbelt on. Then, Tom let go of the wheelchair and Axel crashed into a wheeled tray that had what was left of my soup on it. Axel flew off of the wheelchair and everything just went everywhere, my soup going straight into his face and hair. Sweet, steak!"

Roxas stopped talking as a look of ravenous hunger came over his face as a plate of steak, mashed potatoes, and peas was placed in front of him. Naminé didn't notice whatever food was given to her, she was too busy holding her sides with closed eyes as she almost silently laughed until she thought she'd die. She finally managed to control herself and looked down at her almost identical plate, except it had a pork chop instead of a piece of steak.

"Hey do you remember the time when you and Axel tried to wake up Saïx by tossing freezing cold water on him?" Naminé asked, just barely holding back another wave of laughter. Roxas swallowed his almost too much mouthful of food with some difficulty.

"Don't remind me," Roxas said, though he smiled when he said it. "I still have the scars. How about when Larxene electrified Demyx's sitar while he was playing it and then you painted a hole on the wall for her to run through?"

"And then he crashed into the wall after she ran through," Naminé finished, unable to drink anything because she had started to laugh again.

"Or how about the time when we painted Marluxia's room pink?" Roxas asked, starting to laugh as well.

"What about when we persuaded Xemnas to send Demy to that fire world?" Axel asked with a smirk and gleam in his teal eyes as he slid his wheelchair next to Naminé.

"How'd you get free to come here?" Roxas asked through the laughter of remembering what Demyx was like coming back from surveying that world.

"I was able to persuade them that it was mostly Tom's fault," Axel answered, trying to steal a piece of steak from Roxas, who instantly sobered up and smacked his hand away with his fork.

"Wait, wait, wait," Naminé said, tears of joy in her eyes. "What about the time we started barbequing with one of Xaldin's lances?"

"Remember when Xigbar switched Demyx's water with Vexen's sulphuric acid?" Axel asked. "Remember that?"

"That was good one," Roxas chuckled.

"How about the time when you placed a note on Zexion's back that said 'Sexy Zexy is watching you'?" Naminé asked Axel, who promptly roared in laughter.

"What about when you painted targets on all of Saïx's berserkers and then Xigbar's snipers started shooting them in the back?" Roxas asked, recovering from his bout of laughter. Naminé held her sides as she laughed hysterically.

"O-or when I pla-placed that, that note under Axel's door, signing it Larxene?"

"THAT WAS YOU!!"

Naminé shrieked and rolled her wheelchair out from the table and began speeding away across the cafeteria, Axel giving chase while Roxas simply laughed hysterically.

"Roxas save me!" Naminé yelled halfway through a shrieking laugh as Axel cut off her escape. The keyblade master wiped tears of mirth from his eyes as he barely watched the scene.

Maybe being stuck in a hospital wasn't so bad after all…

-A-D-

_In closing, watch Dead Fantasy and leave a review if you so choose. Next chapter we will go through Riku, Roxas and Naminé, and King Mickey over the last few days before Sora and Kairi mysteriously arrive._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	4. Final Countdown

_Did any of you actually do what I asked and watch Dead Fantasy? If you didn't, you are REALLY missing out on the greatest FMV fight scene ever created by man-kind, especially since it was modeled and animated by one guy and all the characters are absolutely perfect. I mean, take a look at Kairi in that thing along with Tifa, Yuna, and Rikku, as well as her keyblade (Island's Fire for those who remember the name I gave it), and then look at the detail he gave to the Oathkeeper and the Oblivion when he puts her in Valour Form! Yes, Kairi goes into Valour Form in the movie and she KICKS ASS in it._

_And since in my story she now has her crest, which grants her the ability to drive… grin grin, wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more, a wink's as good as a nod to a blind bat._

_Disclaimer: I don't own this. Well, I own __**this**__, but I don't own the stuff I use in this apart from my own creations._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter IV: Final Countdown

Tidus groaned quietly as he sat in his desk in the high school of Twilight Town. His brown eyes quickly swept over his paper, unable to distinguish anything other than what registered in his mind as meaningless scribbles of algebraic formulas with 'x's and 'y's and powers and coefficients all over the page. He looked up from his notes at Mr. Schmidt, who was writing more notes on the chalkboard and lecturing the class.

"When solving for two unknowns in a polynomial equation," he was saying, "we have two methods we can use to solve for either x or y, the substitution method, and the subtraction method…"

Tidus sighed quietly to himself and shook his head, glancing at the others in the class as the meaning of the lesson flew right over his head. Hayner sat next to him with a window seat on his left, and seemed to be absorbing as much of their Pure Math 20 lesson as he was. His right hand wasn't gripping his pencil and was instead moving through the air beside his desk in short, precise movements, his palm wrapped around the invisible air hilt of a sword in perpetual practice. Only Olette and Kia of the rest of their 'militia' as they called themselves were in the same class as the two boys. The rest either had the class at a different time with different teachers, or were in another grade in the case of the twins Anar and Isil.

Tidus envied them, grade eleven sucked. It was the middle year of high school, nothing good comes from being in the middle year. Those two twins were in their senior grade twelve year, which meant Grad, which meant no more suffering, which also meant an end to a twelve year routine that was welcomed every time summer ended no matter how much you denied it.

He glanced again around the room, this time at Olette and Kia. Both girls were sitting together two desks down to his right, Olette in front of Kia. The green-eyed brunette in the front was looking up and down between her paper and the board, scribbling down notes and nodding at everything Schmidt said. The green-eyed girl with short golden-brown hair behind her was also taking notes, but at a more leisurely pace while still maintaining a puzzled expression on her face while she glanced between the blackboard and her paper, occasionally biting the end of her pencil.

Tidus looked up at the board again and copied down a few more notes, if for nothing more than the sake of doing something. He wished he didn't have to be going to school right now. The heartless were out there, Nixion and the nobodies were out there, he should be training to fight them! It was what he had decided on doing weeks ago after they attacked the Islands. But who would train him?

He then looked out of the window at the sky's rosy glow of twilight and realized that Sora hadn't been formally trained when he started fighting heartless either. All that the keyblade master had ever done was spar with Riku, Wakka, and himself (Selphie didn't count with her jump rope) and that had proven to be enough while he grew stronger and more experienced through combat with the heartless and his other friends in tournaments. He found that he envied Sora. He was still out there, fighting heartless somewhere just like he had for the past few weeks and months instead of sitting in a cramped desk dealing with stupid algebra. Then again, Sora was strong enough to deal with any heartless he might encounter. For Tidus though, he often in afterthought realized that he would be dead had he fought alone. He just wasn't skilled enough at the moment to fight effectively at that level.

He looked up at Mr. Schmidt again. When would he seriously need math to fight heartless and nobodies? He knew that Sora probably felt the same way, which was why he was out there instead of in here. His teacher stopped talking and assigned them their work and there was immediately the sound of flipping pages in textbooks, his included, to reach the desired area. He glanced around after he found the correct page and saw Olette feverishly working at the assignment. He swept his gaze to his left at Hayner, who was looking at Olette as well.

"Is she always like this?" he asked. Hayner didn't answer, still looking at Olette with almost a vacant look in his eyes. "Hayner?"

Speaking the boy's name seemed to pop him out of whatever trance he had placed himself in and Hayner looked at Tidus accusingly. "You've been here for two weeks now man and you're just figuring out now that Olette is a nut when it comes to school?" He groaned and chuckled at the same time before looking down at the assignment. "School gives me an ulcer." Tidus laughed at the other blonde.

"Right," he said. "And I'd rather be playing blitzball or training than being in here."

"Training for what?" a brunette boy, by the name of Sean, who sat immediately to his right asked, listening in on their conversation. Tidus glanced at the kid.

"Fighting, that's what," he answered.

"What? Like for the Struggle tournament?" the blonde girl, named Jessica, behind him asked, joining in on their conversation. She surveyed him and shook her head. "I don't think you'd be able to beat Seifer if you went up against him."

"He could so beat Seifer," Hayner said in defence of his friend. "And I could too." Sean scoffed his head and let out a blast of air from pursed lips in a sound of sarcasm.

"Yeah right, you couldn't even beat Sora," he said.

"Nobody can beat Sora," Tidus hissed. His face then went into a thoughtful expression. "Okay, maybe Riku or Kairi or Roxas could beat him, but seriously, NOBODY can beat Sora."

"Seifer doesn't even stand a hair of a chance against him," Hayner added.

"Seifer didn't stand a chance against Kairi either," Jessica said with a smirk. "Even though she cheated."

"She did not cheat," Hayner argued.

"What did she do?" Tidus asked. "I missed the match."

"She broke his bat and kicked him out of the ring," Jessica said emphatically. "She cheated."

"There's nothing in the rules that say you can't do that," Hayner retorted.

"Why'd you miss the match?" Sean asked, looking inquiringly at Tidus. Tidus gave him a hard look and Hayner shut his mouth and dropped his head in respect, Jessica's head bouncing between Hayner and Tidus in confusion.

"I don't know," Tidus replied, his voice dripping in heavy sarcasm while his eyes glazed over with memories that no one his age should have, "I think I was too busy defending my homeworld from heartless and nobodies, watching my friends lose their hearts and die around me." Kia, one desk over from Sean, looked towards them with a pained expression as a tear glistened in her eyes.

"I lost my father that night," she said quietly. "Now it's just me and my mum."

"And my old man's been gone for years," Tidus said, a strange strained sound coming through his voice when he said it. "I'm just glad that my mom was able to make it out with me." Hayner looked at him quizzically, but didn't press the issue, to which Tidus was grateful.

"Sorry," Sean apologized. "We didn't know that you guys were from Destiny Islands."

"No, it's okay," Kia said. "Don't worry about it." In truth, they hadn't known that they were Islanders. All that everyone in the school had been told was that they were new students. The teachers knew of course, but the regular students had not been informed. They sat in silence for a few moments, the only sounds that of scratching pencils on paper or of a person asking Mr. Schmidt a question in a hushed voice. Even Olette had given pause, her head bent down slightly and her green eyes closed in respect.

Jessica finally decided to break the awkward moment. "What was your world like?" Tidus and Kia shared glances past Sean's head and small smiles of remembrance crept onto their faces.

"It was beautiful," Kia said as she remembered. "We lived on the largest island of a chain of islands. Ours was called Felra. Green fields, dense tropical jungles, a purplish mountain, white sandy beaches…"

"Killer waves," Tidus continued, remembering the surf, "great food, and the best blitzball team the islands had ever seen. Never mind the random fiends that showed up from time to time."

"Blitzball?" Sean asked.

"Don't get him started on the subject," Hayner quickly intervened with a slight frown towards his island friend. "Tidus could talk about blitzball for as long as I could talk about Struggle."

"No questions then," Jessica said humourously with raised eyebrows.

"But the city on Felra's gone now," Kia said, slightly put out. "And we don't know what happened to the other islands."

"They're probably alright, actually," Tidus thought, looking up. "I don't think I remember seeing any smoke or anything rising from Dunash, and that's the closest island."

"But, Dunash doesn't have a very large town at all," Kia reasoned. "It's really more of a large village. I'm not sure we would see smoke."

"Hey, Sora's aunt, uncle, and cousins have a chocobo ranch on Dunash," Tidus answered bitterly. "We'd have seen if that went up in smoke, so stop being such a pessimist." He let his head drop. "We have to hope. Our sacrifice can't have been for nothing." The bell rang, and students immediately began making motions to leave as the sound of rustling papers and zipping binders and backpacks filled the classroom.

"Don't worry Tidus," Hayner said confidently as Sean and Jessica left quickly. "As long as we all keep fighting, our sacrifices won't be worthless. We have to trust each other to play our part in bringing Maleficent down." Tidus looked at Hayner and smiled, shaking his head.

"Yeah," he said. "But that doesn't mean I can't wish that I was out with Sora right now. He's probably fighting heartless."

"If you were with Sora right now Tidus," Olette chastised, placing her full backpack over one shoulder as Kia passed her, "you wouldn't be in school." Hayner cocked his head to one side.

"Come on Olette," he said, "you think we like being here?" Olette shook her head slightly and let her grimace melt into a tiny smile, her eyes straying to look wistfully out the window for a brief moment.

Little did the three of them know that school was the furthest thing from Sora's mind at that moment.

-A-D-

_Sora's eyes darted around amongst the crags, hoping and dreading he'd find a glimpse of a shadow creeping around. A soft hand touching his shoulder jolted him out of his search and his eyes found Kairi's._

"_Sora," she whispered. "What is it?"_

"_I can feel heartless around Kairi," he said earnestly. "I just don't know where they are. The fight is nothing, but the suspense is killing me." Kairi nodded and looked at their hands while Mimi griped about wanting a bath._

"_Aren't the heartless attracted to the keyblade?" she asked. Sora nodded._

"_Yes. They fear the keyblade and so swarm towards a holder of the blade in an attempt to destroy their fear." Kairi placed a finger to her chin in thought, but before Sora could even shake his head at her Joe cried out._

"_Hey look over there!" he cried, pointing out across a barren plain towards a forest in the distance. But his finger sank at the sounds of shouting and came to rest at a scuffle that was taking place in the midst of the plain. Plumes of darkness kept rising from where Joe was pointing, and Sora spared no time rushing forward past the other digidestined. He knew heartless when he saw them. Aiwemon flew next to him, matching his speed with his wings and Kairi and Menelmon were right behind. The others followed, but they couldn't match their speed._

_The Oblivion made its appearance within his right hand and Sora changed his course slightly as roughly half of the force of heartless, which he noticed consisted entirely of neoshadows, turned away from their opponent and started moving towards him. He smirked and drew his left hand behind him, fire curling in it. With a cry he swept his hand out in front of him twice and dozens of small fireballs barreled out of his palm towards the heartless. The neoshadows stopped as the fireballs impaled them, but moments later Sora was upon and among them, arching his blade with precision and finesse into the mass. Three fell in an instant, and two more were taken out as the black steel of the Oblivion paved its way through the head of one and then the back of another in what seemed as one fluid motion. His keyblade felt no resistance from the dark flesh of the heartless, ripping through what was rapidly becoming a mist of darkness around him. His desire to protect whoever it was the heartless had mobbed to was his only consideration as he cleaved his way through the mass, clearing away the heartless as a farmer scythes through grain._

_If he'd only known how much pain that figure would cause him._

_Blue blasts came streaming from Aiwemon's eyes, striking the heartless near Sora and causing them pause long enough for the keyblade his partner held to smite them. Aiwemon's talons ripped through neoshadows as he covered the back of his partner. The claws of the neoshadows were sharp and came quickly, but Aiwemon's talons were keener and the bird was faster. None touched either his or Sora's bodies as the heartless quickly found themselves outnumbered by the pair._

_Kairi had stood back from the battle, staring along with the other digidestined at the display as the dark mists continued to grow around the battling pair. She knew that he could fight, hell she'd fought alongside him, but there was something different now and she couldn't quite tell what it was. Sora and Aiwemon burst out of the cloud of darkness, heading for the remaining group while the cloud faded away to reveal that nothing had survived their purge._

_Sora gripped his keyblade tightly as he charged forward towards the final cohort, still in a ring around their target. Aiwemon was beside him, glowing._

"_Aiwemon digivolved to, Ohtarmon!" He hit the ground running, his mace held readily in his burly arms while his beak snapped angrily at the group of foes in front of them. He pointed his mace in front of him while they got closer and he continued to run with a cry of, "Feathered Mace!" Heartless vanished as the feathers continually struck into the mass, which finally took notice of their approach. Too late though. Ohtarmon relinquished his attack as he got closer. He swung his mace when he broke into the tide and the pure white energy coming from his attack obliterated them into only the wispiest of dark mists._

_Sora leapt up into the air as his partner broke into the mass and positioned his keyblade's point downwards and raising it above his head, the Oblivion slowly becoming shrouded in a cloud of electricity. The neoshadows never saw it coming when he landed and drove his blade's tip into the ground in a finishing blow. The pent up electricity surged out in a shockwave pattern and created a wide circle of destruction against his enemies. Sora pulled the Oblivion out of the reddish earth and mowed down the last heartless that stood between him and the initial target of the heartless. The figure wore light blue armour of a hue that he'd never seen before, but the black sword he held was wreathed in fire, the flames of which were blue with the purest black at their core. Sora placed his back to the figure, who he noticed was taller than him, and Ohtarmon moved in so they formed a triangle. They nodded curtly at each other before each of them dove into the horde of heartless in front of them. Oblivion's black steel dealt death to any heartless that stood in its wake as fires erupted from its master's eyes. Neoshadows crept forward against Sora, wary of the reach of his blade, but their eyes could not see fast enough to catch sight of the boy moving seamlessly amongst them, his keyblade ignited in the fire of his passion. A loud ring broke out as the Oblivion came down on the head of an unsuspecting neoshadow and a spark came through the darkness from the connection with a snow white keyblade. Kairi had joined the battle at last. She darted past Sora to hold against a mob making for their new companion, and her blade showed no mercy to any heartless in its wake. Kairi was keeping her oath._

_Their new ally swept his brute sword in a wide arc in front of him, dispatching the heartless into puffs of smoke. The momentum of his swing brought his sword precariously close to Kairi, and she winced slightly as the edge of the sword nicked her in the side while her attention was focused against the last remaining company that Sora and Ohtarmon were now engaging._

_None noticed a small black jolt enter the wound._

"_Let's end this," the man in armour said, dropping his left hand from his sword and raising it against the heartless. What appeared to be light suddenly surrounded the remaining group and shone down on the heartless, causing them to cower in fear._

"_Nova Blast!" Greymon's fireball crashed into the center of the heartless and finally destroyed the last of them. Ohtarmon glanced at Sora as the latter released his keyblade._

"_Well," said Ohtarmon, shouldering his mace as he spoke, "that takes care of that." Sora nodded and moved towards Kairi, who was still standing near the man. She was shaking her head slightly with one hand on it, but Sora ignored it for now and moved instead towards the armoured person._

"_Thanks for the help keyblader," the armoured person said, planting the tip of his sword into the ground and leaning slightly on its hilt._

-A-D-

"I said I was sorry Naminé."

The blonde haired princess scoffed and doubly returned her attention towards the sketchpad she held readily upon her lap, coloured pencils a flurry of movement across the page as she drew to her heart's content. Roxas stood idly in the doorway, his confused expression barely submerging the exasperation he felt towards Naminé right now. It was just one little thing. Why was she getting so huffy about it? He hadn't even done _anything_ yesterday to upset her.

Apparently though, not doing anything meant that he had done _something_. And now he was more than ever confused as to what that something was.

"Come on Nam," Roxas moaned, slinking off of the doorway and taking a step towards her. "What did I do that has you in such a tizzy?" Naminé's head snapped towards him and he flinched, slightly.

"I am not in a tizzy!" she replied heatedly, her eyes blazing in frustration.

"Really?" Roxas asked sarcastically, moving closer to her as she sat on her hospital bed. "Because to me it looks like you are in a tizzy." Naminé answered with a 'humph' and returned to drawing, her pencil forcefully making a mark on the page. Roxas sighed inwardly and looked at Naminé. He had hoped he wouldn't have had to resort to torture to get her to talk to him again. But if he had to, he would.

Fortunately, he had learned that while Naminé had been kept at Castle Oblivion that she was fiendishly ticklish. If Sora thought that Kairi was ticklish, Naminé was three times that.

Roxas sat down beside her, and Naminé shoved herself further over and turned away from him, keeping her hard eyes directed towards her pad. But no matter how hard she concentrated on drawing the downfall of Dragon Maleficent the first time against Sora, Donald, and Goofy, she could not keep a hold on it once Roxas' magic fingers started tapping her back through the turquoise gown.

Roxas smiled when he got the first giggle out of her, not even three seconds into the tickling; once it started it couldn't stop. Naminé was soon reduced to a blithering mass of laughter against his greatest weapon, her eyes shut close with tears leaking out of them and Roxas moved on top of her, going at both of her sides now while his laugh joined hers.

"Come on," he teased, "what did I do?"

"Y-yo-you trait-traitor," Naminé let out through her stream of giggles. "You did-didn't help, help against Axe-Axel." Roxas turned his fiendish expression into a bemused one while he redoubled his efforts, earning another loud bout from his girlfriend.

"Well it was your fault," he said slyly, letting off for one second for Naminé's heaving chest to catch her breath. "You shouldn't have sent him that note."

"You still could have done something," she chided breathlessly, looking up at him. Roxas knew that she had never really been angry at him and smiled all the wider. He cupped his hand underneath her blonde head and let one finger teasingly wiggle against her bellybutton through the gown.

"Well how about I do this?" he asked softly before lowering his head and raising her own head for his mouth to fall dead center over hers. Naminé needed no prodding to fall into the kiss, the longing that had plagued the both of them for the past few days being drawn out. Roxas lavished Naminé with his tongue, expressing his worry for her well-being through his love. She had been hurt worse than he had. No matter what they said, it was Naminé who'd been hurt more physically. If it were in his power or out, he would never allow her to be hurt like that again. He poured out his own insecurities after the battle with Nixion that had claimed his pride. Only Riku had ever beaten him before, and that defeat was hard enough to stomach. Nixion had not only beaten him, but Axel too. He made it seem so effortless that it gave Roxas fear. But he let all of that wash out of him as Naminé kissed him back, replacing his fears and worries with hope and love.

Roxas let go of her soft lips and tucked her head into his arms, the light-hearted feeling that they'd had just moments before sinking down as they both turned to look out of the window. Dusk was approaching as the golden light of the sun bounced off of purple clouds. The engines of a large Gummi ship glowed blue as it blasted out into the sky, carrying away the pilots and equipment of Wardog Squadron and AWACS Thunderhead. With those brave pilots gone, there was very little now that could defend the Garden, especially with those that just left to create new towns.

Naminé started to shiver as he held her and she drew closer, causing him to look at her with concern. "I feel like something horrible is happening," she whispered. "Or is going to happen."

"Hush now Nam," Roxas said soothingly. "Nothing bad is going to happen to us." Naminé shook her head.

"Yes and no. It's not as much for us that I'm worried about," she answered, looking out of the window again. Roxas followed her gaze and looked out of the window again. The contrails of the engine were just appearing in the sky now, as purple streaks through the golden mural. He didn't know where Sora was, but he knew that the girl he held in her arms was a more precious gem than the one that was set in the silver band across her forehead. And he knew that Kairi was just as dear to both of their hearts.

_Sora, Kairi,_ he thought, _don't let us exist without you again. Come back to us safe and sound._

-A-D-

Riku, Max, and Yuffie were busy preparing the _Highwind_ for departure the morning after the battle had taken place. They had turned off its cloaking device, causing the Gummi ship to revert to its outward appearance, much to the amazement of the villagers of the Gaulish village. The entire village had all turned out to see them off, along with a few new members to the crew. Asterix and Obelix had been charged at yet another banquet, set under the starlit night sky the night before, to leave their world and bring peace to the galaxy. It was a mission of the utmost importance, Vitalstatistix had said, and so they must take the greatest care not to return to the village in failure.

The two Gauls and Dogmatix proudly strode up the Gummi ship's landing ramp, ready to embark on yet another adventure as the whole village bid them adieu. In one hand, Obelix held a barrel full of magic potion, and in the other, resting comfortably against his back, a menhir. Asterix had shaken his head at his friend's insistence to bring along one of his menhirs.

"You never know when a menhir might come in handy," Obelix had said with an upturned nose. And Asterix had privately been forced to agree. Obelix's menhirs had proven quite useful on several occasions.

When they entered the ship, Asterix suddenly thought that they may need to become useful again.

The voice of a little toddler, dressed in a yellow shirt underneath a pair of red overalls, the very same toddler that had helped them fight heartless the day before, was sounding loudly from the cabin. Asterix's expression became pained as he imagined Riku, Yuffie, and Max (who had left the banquet early the night before moaning about how the pink elephants he kept seeing had returned) listening to the tike.

"God, do any of you speak English?" Stewie was yelling in frustration. "I want pancakes!" Asterix calmly walked down the metallic hallway, pressing his feet down to force a slapping sound out of the metal. Stewie's ranting ceased as Asterix stepped through the open entrance to the cabin, Obelix behind him with a smile on the large Gaul's face and his trusty Dogmatix yipping happily.

"Oh finally someone who can cook!" Stewie said, rushing up to Asterix. "Listen, I want pancakes!" Asterix glanced down at Stewie in confusion and Stewie yelled in disbelief.

"Blast! Don't you understand a word I'm saying you Gallic midget? I want pancakes! Je ver pancakes." Asterix's eyes brightened suddenly.

"Oh you want pancakes," he replied before looking up at Riku, his bright eyes having already lost their luster in confusion. "What are pancakes?" Stewie looked at him in utter shock while Riku parted his lips to answer.

"Pancakes are a breakfast food that are difficult to make if you don't know how." He stopped and looked around, particularly holding his gaze on Stewie. "Which none of us here know how to make."

"You mean you're trying to tell me that you don't have a box of pancake mix on this ship?" Stewie growled angrily. Max laughed.

"I haven't seen a box of mix for anything," he chuckled. "Those two had always made everything from scratch. And man, it was perfect every time." Stewie glared at Max and tapped his foot, causing the boy to wilt. Asterix forcibly turned his attention away from the baby and looked at Max instead.

"How you doing after last night Max?" the warrior asked. Max sighed and rubbed his eyes horribly.

"I saw pink elephants again last night," the boy moaned. "This time, I swear, no drink!"

Despite Max's outburst, Stewie's foot tap-tapping never ceased.

"Well can somebody cook eggs?" he asked impatiently.

"I'd like boar," Obelix put in hopefully, smacking his lips.

"Shut up!" Stewie yelled at him before turning his gaze back to the two keyblade wielders, the ninja, and the humanoid. Max sighed and raised his hand.

"Yeah, they taught me a little about eggs," he said grimly, already moving past them and glowering at Stewie. The little toddler followed the boy impatiently. Asterix looked at Riku as their footsteps faded away.

"He's a summon right," Asterix asked, "why is he still here?"

"He wouldn't go back," Riku answered harshly. Asterix raised a golden eyebrow.

"Why is that?" he asked.

"Because he knows about Maleficent," Yuffie answered, scoffing her head upwards and showcasing the amount of respect she had for the tike. "And he declared when we tried to put him back in his charm that if anyone was going to take over the universe, it would be him." Obelix sniffed his nose, already not interested in the conversation, and promptly dropped his menhir and barrel of magic potion before lumbering off to the kitchen. Asterix followed the movements of his friend for a few moments before looking around the cabin. There was the stairway to the bridge, and the corridor exit, and the three doors that led to the three bedrooms.

He looked inquiringly at the three doors. "I just realized," he mentioned, "where are Obelix and I going to sleep?"

"I don't know," Yuffie answered quickly, a little too quickly. "But nobody is in my room with me."

Riku raised an eyebrow at the suddenness of her answer. "Why is that Yuffie? Apart from you being the only girl aboard ship." Yuffie turned her attention towards him and placed her hands on her hips.

"Because I just got that room the way I wanted," she answered. Riku suspected that there may have been more to it than that, but he let it pass.

"Well, Stewie was complaining that he was left alone last night," Riku said. "But I'm not letting him near me while I sleep." His eyes slowly moved towards Asterix, but before he could even begin to utter a word the older keyblade wielder raised his hands to halt him.

"I've already had more than enough dealing with babies," he declared, remembering the time when Cleopatra had sent the small baby she and Julius Ceaser had had a baby boy and sent it to the village (his hut in particular) for safety.

"Then where are we putting Stewie?" Yuffie asked, raising a finger to her chin. Riku sent a sidelong glance at the young kunoichi.

"Max gets him," he said. Yuffie turned her raven clad head to look at him with raised eyebrows. Riku returned the look with a slight smirk. "Nobody goes in your room, I don't want him again, Asterix doesn't want him, and Obelix would probably squash him if he rolled onto Stewie during the night. So through process of elimination, and delegation, the duty falls to our faithful half-dog companion Max to guard the demon child."

Asterix and Yuffie both laughed as Riku spun off towards the bridge to finally get the ship off the ground and the sound of the toddler and swordsman arguing over Obelix's grumblings about how they didn't have any boar flitted in from the kitchen. For them, it was going to be a strange few days.

-A-D-

Naminé noticed the excited air that Roxas carried about himself that Thursday the eighteenth as he strode into her room once more, Axel moving by his side with a gleam in his teal eyes. Both of them had large amounts of energy coursing through their veins, Naminé noted, judging by the amount of twitching each of them did. And for some reason, Roxas kept glancing continually at the bedside clock and the ceiling-mounted television set within the girl's room.

Finally, the princess was forced to abandon her drawing and give her undivided attention towards the two young men that had entered her midst. She giggled at them, not caring for the frowning slights they gave her. The two were so riled up in her opinion that it looked like they were getting ready for a big blitzball game.

"Okay," Naminé relented with only the beginnings of a humourous smile, "what's happening?" Roxas and Axel both gave her looks of boyish incredulity; that only heightened Naminé's amusement of the situation.

"What's happening?" Roxas iterated. "What's happening?" He tossed his gaze towards the television. "Tron tell her what's happening." The screen suddenly flicked on, and the image of a man with pale blue skin, wearing a very futuristic and circuit like outfit appeared in front of a white screen.

"Very well User Roxas," Tron said, startling Naminé in his sudden appearance. "Today is the series premiere of Wartime Battlewatch, the new show that will act as a correspondent to the war with the heartless and feature video from the battlefront." Tron stopped speaking and shrugged his shoulders with a slight chuckle. "At least that's what the program says anyway." Naminé still hadn't moved her eyes away from the computer program that was speaking through the screen.

"Tron?" she asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here? Aren't you the MCP?" Tron chuckled slightly at Naminé's facial expression.

"I've been at work at integrating myself into the Radiant Garden's entire computer system princess Naminé," the Master Control Program answered. "I've only recently programmed myself into the telesphere network and have just finished integration into the hospital's computer system." Naminé let her mouth stay open for a moment before looking inquiringly at Roxas.

"How did you know about this?" she asked. She was utterly perplexed as to how Roxas would know about something like this when she wasn't, and almost everyone else wasn't either. Roxas was never the smartest of people, quite a lot like his other, but to know that Tron was doing this even when he had never met the program before, or Naminé or Axel either for that matter, was completely beyond her comprehension.

In reality, he hadn't known.

"That was actually me," answered Tron, slightly sheepishly, slightly amused. "The records of the minutes from meetings of Parliament are kept on file, and when I browsed through them I learned that Roxas was User Sora's brother. Sora had never mentioned to me before that he had a sibling, and I wanted to meet him as personally as I could without bringing him into the system."

"So Tron looked up where I was and startled the heck out of me when he suddenly showed up on the screen," Roxas finished, giving the computer program's image a glare. Tron gave a slight smirk and huff of digital breath.

"It was a little difficult at first to process the information that he had been a nobody, and that you and Axel were also nobodies princess," Tron said. "However, I believe I have overcome that obstacle." Naminé raised her eyebrows and her eyes widened before shifting her face back to normal.

"Well that's good," she said, a little put out. "But I'm still a little confused in being whole. The emotions, erg, I love them, but now that I actually _feel_ them, it's just different, but it also seems so easy and natural, you know?" Roxas, Axel, and surprisingly Tron, all nodded their heads in agreement.

"It takes a little while to get used to it," Axel said. "The actual feeling part is the hardest to get used to, but showing our emotion just comes naturally."

"I don't know so much about the actual feeling bit Axel," Roxas answered. "And I don't think Naminé thinks that the actual feeling is really that strange." Axel raised an eyebrow at his best friend as Naminé looked at him, actually finding some truth in what he said.

"What are you getting on about Roxas?" the red haired former nobody asked.

Roxas closed his eyes for a moment and was silent. Naminé could hear his deep breathing, and could almost see how it was soothing him. The boy then opened his eyes, and Naminé noticed that there was a slight watery shine at their lower rim.

"We have the memories of those who were our others," Roxas said. "And I feel them as if they were my own experiences added to those that _I_ have for myself. We have a basis for the emotions we feel now, and feel them as if it's completely natural for us to feel that way because of Sora's and Kairi's memories. Yet, because we were nobodies, and we remember being nobodies and what it's like to be a nobody and what it meant, and especially since we had no memory of anything before we were created and then had no possible reason to fake any emotion, I guess our minds just think that it's strange that we should feel like we do. My mind tells me that feeling sorrow is strange, but my heart tells me that I should grieve and not question it."

Naminé allowed her mouth to open slightly once more and she simply stared at Roxas, who promptly blushed and rubbed his eyes, turning away from them all.

"Why?" the girl asked, voicing the question that Axel would have felt too awkward asking.

Roxas turned only slightly, so that Naminé alone would be the one to see his face. The lines of pain were etched into the creases under his eyes. She found her own eyes inexplicably drawn to his as Roxas slowly moved towards her. The very depths of the ocean for which his eyes' colour took after could barely contain the sad insecurity reflected in his eyes.

He sat down next to her on the bed and leaned his mouth close to her ear. He began whispering, his voice catching or even breaking occasionally.

"Because Sora and I both loved his mother, and we've never taken any real time to deal with the pain. We've both put it off because we love- I love you and Kairi just as much if not more, and I don't know how I'd live if you were gone. And Maleficent, and the heartless, and Nixion, I just-" Naminé stopped him when she wrapped her arms around him, drawing him into a comforting hug as they rested their heads on each other's shoulders.

Axel glanced at Tron as the princess and the knight embraced, and they both quietly and respectfully left the two of them alone together.

Naminé let a tear roll down her cheek as she rested her head against Roxas' neck. She could relate entirely to what he said. It hurt her heart just as much as it hurt Kairi's. She was angered at Maleficent, and at the same time, after the battle with Nixion, she was just as afraid as Roxas was. She knew in her heart that she had to give time to let go, but before she could try she needed Kairi with her. It was something that the two would have to do together, and Roxas would need Sora if they were ever going to get back on track.

Naminé sighed inwardly, wondering just where Kairi was and how long it would take before she would be done crest hunting so that she could see the auburn haired princess again.

And that's when she suddenly lost consciousness.

-A-D-

The next thing Naminé knew was that she was standing atop a platform that was not her own, staring at a bright and slowly descending star. There was the image of the same shining star in the centre of the blue platform, and lines of gold weaved around the edge of the platform. Naminé looked up at the star again and saw that there was a woman standing within the light. Flowing blonde hair fanned out past her cheeks and shoulders, and she wore robes entirely of white. Within her right hand rested an ivory staff, intricately carved in such a way that the precious material looked like unbroken and pure light itself, curling and crisscrossing around and around a hollow core, from which true light shone, while still striking a steady path upwards towards the top. A white orb rested there, and from the orb the soft light of a thousand stars, stars that brought the darkest of nights into brilliance, gleamed.

The star reached the platform and the woman stepped out on sandaled feet. She raised her head towards Naminé and the girl felt her hair flow past her a little as light billowed out of the woman like a wind. The young princess felt her mind calming in the presence of the light as the azure eyes of the woman pierced through her own eyes and into her heart.

Naminé felt movement beside her and she first realized that she was not alone with this star-woman. The sudden distraction broke the effect of the light and Naminé turned to look down to her right. She felt her own eyes widen with amazement and confusion when she saw Kairi, dressed in her black halter-top and blue skirt, kneeling on the ground next to her, the girl's head bent down reverently towards the woman in front of them. She shifted her gaze between Kairi and the woman and the platform itself in confusion. She had just been in the hospital with Roxas, right?

"Kairi?" Naminé asked uncertainly, hoping that she wasn't losing her mind. Kairi looked up in surprise at Naminé.

"Sister," she said, surprising Naminé by the sudden use of the term, "what are you wearing?" Naminé was used to some people calling her Kairi's twin sister by now. She had been introducing herself to important people since she had stood before Parliament. She was used to being called a princess, even to being pampered a little bit like a princess. But there had always been a slight twinge of unease about the whole royal treatment. She hadn't actually talked to Kairi in person about the whole thing.

"So we are sisters now?" Naminé asked, surprised that Kairi was suddenly thrusting the title of being her sister upon her without discussion. She didn't mind much, now that it gave her legitimacy to be pampered like the royalty she now technically was, it was just unsettling.

Kairi blinked in response. "Didn't I just go through this with your spirit on my platform?" Naminé was about to open her mouth for a rebuttal, about to say that even if Kairi had talked to the spirit of herself that resided within the red-headed princess' heart that she herself still wouldn't have known, but the woman directly across from the two spoke first.

"You are no longer within your heart Princess," she said in a gentle and echoing voice that in Naminé's mind flowed like an ocean breeze past the trees in some distant memory of Kairi's. Naminé turned her attention towards the woman as Kairi brought her head up while she kneeled to look at her as well. The woman smiled at the two of them.

"_Haverash Cournir et Kírië,_" she said. Naminé glanced at Kairi to see if her 'sister' had understood a word. Kairi's evident return glance at Naminé revealed that no, she hadn't figured out a syllable's worth more than Naminé did. Later, either of the princesses wondered if they could even attempt to spell what the woman had said.

Apparently their confusion either amused the woman, or it made her fond of them, for her smile widened and she opened her mouth again. "Greetings Princesses of Light," she translated, "I am Thessaura, Goddess of Light and Healing of the Ancient Pantheon, the oldest gods of the Universe."

Naminé didn't know why, but she now felt as if Kairi's private declaration that she accepted Naminé as a sister was as insignificant as watching an ant walk about, and she felt just as small when she looked up at the goddess. She couldn't look up; she just couldn't bear to stand in her presence. Naminé dropped to her knees beside Kairi and bent her head down, cursing that she wasn't wearing something more appropriate.

She glanced at Kairi out of the corner of her eye before anything else and noticed the girl's disheveled hair, puffy, bloodshot eyes, dirty clothes and slight tan; catching Kairi sneaking a glance at herself to see Naminé in the turquoise hospital gown, still a very light cover of orange paste for her burns on her skin.

Both of them thought that they could have looked a lot better.

Thessaura surprised them though by stepping forward, so quietly that they couldn't hear her approach, and she placed her hands on the foreheads of the two girls. Naminé looked up at the warm and gentle touch that came from the deity's skin and the hand slid down past her cheek to cup her chin, its gentle pressure guiding her head upwards.

"Rise Kairi and Naminé," Thessaura said. "Rise twin princesses of heart and of Radiant Garden, and stand before me." The two humbly obeyed and stood side-by-side, staring speechless in awe at the deity that stood before them.

"Consider yourselves blessed," Thessaura addressed them. "You two are the first mortals to see my true form in an age." Naminé didn't know how to respond. She had just been hugging Roxas, wondering when the next time she'd see Kairi would be, and now she was standing next to her with a goddess of light in front of both of them.

Why though, Naminé couldn't tell as she kept her eyes trained on Thessaura's face, sweeping over the very small smile on her face and locking into the pools of deep blue eyes that shined with the inner light of good.

"Great Thessaura," Kairi spoke, drawing Naminé's and Thessaura's attention towards the auburn-haired princess, "who are you?" Naminé shifted slightly towards Kairi to support her when the girl wilted under Thessaura's direct gaze.

"Do not be afraid of me Kairi," said Thessaura. "For I am the goddess of light, my handmaidens should not fear their patron deity." Naminé looked back to Thessaura.

"Handmaidens?" she asked quietly. Thessaura nodded.

"The princesses of heart and wielders of the keyblade in the realm of light have always served my will, by their knowledge or no. Their hearts have guided them to serve the light." Thessaura sighed and looked at Kairi.

"And what about now?" Kairi asked. "Thessaura, what is happening to me?" Naminé looked at Kairi in confusion.

"Kairi, what are you talking about?" she asked.

"Darkness has overtaken your body, dear Kairi, as I'm sure you know," Thessaura said. "I am the one who protects your heart from the darkness, and while I keep my wards up it shall not fall. Not even to the power of Maleficent."

"But what does Maleficent want with possessing me?" Kairi asked.

"I would have believed Maleficent's intentions are clear," Thessaura said. "She knows that the two of you are in love, and she despises Sora for her first death. Maleficent is using your body to drive a wedge between the two of you to break Sora's heart, and as long as you are shut within your heart, you are her prisoner." Naminé gasped with a sharp intake of breath, but she looked at Kairi in amazement as she heard her sister growl. Her fists were clenched, and her arms shook as they slowly rose up in frustration and her voice rumbled as it escaped from her lips.

"So, I'm a damsel in distress again!" She let out a pent up cry of anger. "This is the third freaking time Sora's enemies have used me to get at him! Why won't they just leave us alone? Or better yet, why don't we just fight them off so they _will_?" Naminé silently shook her head.

Thessaura smiled. "You have a stout heart Kairi, but you are yet too weak to fight against her with hope, and now is not the time for you to pass from this plane of existence."

"What do you mean?" Kairi pressed.

"You must first ascend," said Thessaura. "Only after your ascension will you have full mastery of light, and the power to defeat Maleficent. But for total victory against her a great sacrifice must be made. The first step of your ascension will be to regain that which you have lost."

"My body?" Kairi asked. Thessaura shook her head.

"It is up to you to determine what you have lost, and how to say goodbye." Naminé shook her head, lost in the conversation her sister and the goddess were having.

"Wait," she said, moving her hand from her forehead to her hips and turning to look at Kairi. "Kairi, what do you mean by possession and your body?"

"Maleficent has taken over my body," Kairi answered. "And I'm being confined to my heart and forced to go through a hellish nightmare over and over again, and it's never the same."

"It is the future," Thessaura answered. Kairi looked towards the goddess in shock, her body shaking in horrible fear. "And like the future, certain things are set in stone, while the rest remains ever fluid. Not even I can predict the course of the battle you shall fight, only certain certainties that will occur. It is fated that Sora will lose his arm at your hand, and it is fated that you are to perform the greatest deed in history up to that point."

"Let me guess," Kairi said, and Naminé looked at her in concern. Her voice was subdued, and all the fight that had been in it only a moment before was gone. Naminé felt the tugs of depression at Thessaura's words, but it had to be nothing compared to what Kairi was feeling right now. "I am the one the prophecy refers to. I am the mother of the child that will destroy evil forever." Naminé felt her eyebrows rise. She had never even thought of that.

Thessaura's head shook, and when the goddess next spoke her tone seemed almost sad. "No Kairi, you are not the one the prophecy of Shankela refers to." She stopped and quickly rearranged her face into one that was impassive so quickly that Naminé could barely tell that it hadn't been.

"I will say no more," Thessaura last spoke. "But the dream that you go through Kairi is also necessary for your ascension. I shall return the two of you to your bodies. The time of ascension is swiftly approaching. _Nalkesh Cournir et Kírië_." Light swirled and wrapped around Kairi, and Naminé swiveled her head around when she saw Kairi vanish. She looked at Thessaura, trying to see a reason as to why she was still here when the goddess had just said that she'd be returned to her body.

"Naminé," Thessaura said. "There is a task that must be done, and I entrust it to you." Naminé looked at Thessaura suspiciously.

"Then why did you have to wait until we were alone to tell me?"

Thessaura smiled. "It's nothing personal against your sister, but only you will be able to perform the duty I need done." Naminé held Thessaura under her gaze for a second more before nodding. Thessaura took her staff in her hand once more and tapped the tiny sky blue stone set in Naminé's circlet hidden just underneath the end of her bangs. Naminé took a step back and felt the stone with her fingers, it was warm to touch.

"After Kairi and Sora arrive at the Radiant Garden," Thessaura instructed. "You and Roxas will leave it for a few days before returning, you will understand why. After they have recovered, gather your friends and the other princesses of heart together in the gardens of the castle postern. There all will be made clear to you." Light began swirling around Naminé, and she fought against the stellar pull that was drawing her away from where she was standing.

"Wait," she said as she struggled, "what do you mean 'after they've recovered'?" But her question was left unanswered as she opened her eyes and found herself lying on her hospital bed again. Roxas was sitting in a chair next to the bed, his eyes fluttering open when Naminé sighed.

"You know how I said yesterday that I felt something bad was going to happen?" she asked, puffing out her cheeks in an angry pout. "Well I was right."

-A-D-

_Sora was off in a flash, the Oblivion reappearing in his grasp with a flash of bright light while he held the statuette in his left. The digimon needed no prodding to follow when they saw him like that and took flight beside him. Cossex hung back, a slight smile on her face._

"_This is their battle," she said to herself._

_Sora and the digimon reached the catwalk to the islet easily, and they spotted Kairi on the bent paopu tree, Sedah standing next to her, a yellow paopu fruit in his hands. The bird behind him with the white-covered head and brown feathers started glowing._

"_Aiwemon digivolved to, Ohtarmon!"_

"_Sora," the warrior spoke. "This isn't the digital world. I'm not going to be as powerful here as I was there, and I may revert back to Aiwemon before this battle's done." Sora nodded curtly in front of him, acknowledging his partner's feelings._

_He pointed the Oblivion towards Sedah, the metal's temperature already plunging before the blast of ice even erupted from its tip. The shard streaked straight for Sedah and dug into his back. Sora grinned when he saw the paopu fall before it could reach the disguised God's lips. Sedah whipped around and glared at him and his companions._

"_Get away from her you bastard," growled Sora, his face set. For once his hair dared not interfere. "Hades, I should have known it was you all along. The clues were right in front of my face."_

"_So the keyblader __finally__ figured it out," Hades roared with a chuckle as his disguise melted away and he drew his brute sword, rimmed entirely with black fire now. "You know you're pretty slow for a hero, maybe you really should go back to being a Junior Hero." Sora dipped his head down._

"_Some hero I am," he muttered. "Please forgive me Kairi, and let me make amends." His head rose once more and he flew straight across the catwalk. A large fireball came from Hades' hands towards him, but Keys was faster and the fireball missed to be batted away by Ohtarmon. Sora tossed the figurine of Kairi into the air, and both those who were on the islet looked at it in surprise. Hades' face also showed his outrage. The statue exploded in a bright light and sparkles of white drifted down from where it had used to be and landed on Kairi. Her face gained a surprised expression, and then it hardened. She grabbed the paopu fruit away from the ground, checked Hades in the hip- the highest point on the god her shoulder could reach- and dashed over to the edge of the catwalk, where Sora, Ohtarmon, and Menelmon stood and waited._

"_Forgive me Sora," Kairi said, her voice downcast as she stood next to him. "I wasn't in cont-"_

"_You had your free will taken away," Sora interrupted. "I saw it happen to Auron. And if you can forgive me for whipping you, the least I can do is forgive you for trying to kill me." Kairi smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek. She extended the paopu fruit towards him._

"_Would- would you like to?" she asked in stuttering words, offering the star-shaped fruit towards him. Sora looked at it for less than a second but to him it seemed like a lifetime._

_There was already a bite missing from it, and a dribble of juice was running down the side of Kairi's lip._

_This was the biggest thing they could ever do, at least in theory, apart from marrying. The legend said that when two people shared a paopu fruit, their destinies would be intertwined forever and through eternity. But he didn't need a second thought. He wanted Kairi in his life, he didn't know if he could live if she was gone._

_Sora took the fruit and bit into it, savouring every flavour and drop of juice that sat on his tongue. It tasted better than any food he had ever tried, and the texture of the fruit's skin was more pleasurable than a nicely grilled steak._

_He let go of the fruit as Kairi suddenly hugged him, but the hug was brief. Hades had unleashed a fireball at them, and Ohtarmon had gotten in its way and protected them with his mace._

"_Right," Sora said. "Battle, right…"_

"_Yeah…" Kairi added, suddenly remembering what was going on around them, "right. Hades, yes." She turned her head and looked at Menelmon. "You ready for this Menelmon?"_

"_Let me at him," the female digimon replied. "I'll teach him to hurt my partner! Menelmon digivolved to, Soronmon!"_

"_Well," Hades began saying, looking at the ferocious foursome, "much though I'd like to stay and fight you alone, I have a friend who'd love to meet three of you and say hello to his old buddy." The ground started rumbling, and cracks began appearing in the earth just off of the islet where they stood. The catwalk collapsed and the whole islands shook as a guttural roar of a dog ripped through the howling air. The sky flashed with lightning and rain started to fall. Fires roared into existence from beneath the cracking stone, and the ground abruptly exploded, the dog's howl tearing through the storm once more, and yet it sounded now like it was more than one dog. Through the cloud of dust, shattered rocks, and rain that fell through the sky, and in the light of the fires that raged around it, Sora was able to discern the recognizable shape of a beast of the Underworld that he had fought several times with Donald, Goofy, and Auron. Its black fur shone with the beads of the rain and its massive muscles rippled. The six red eyes of its three heads located Sora and its jaws snapped, recognizing him in anger._

_Hades had summoned forth Cerberus, his Guardian of the Underworld._

-A-D-

_So yeah, all I've done here is bring everyone up to speed. Next chapter is when new stuff starts._

_Leave a review if you choose to._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	5. Comatose

_Well now that everyone has become caught up again, I'm starting the new stuff that you all came back for, plus adding or subtracting to the confusion caused by the first chapter._

_On a personal note, I just wrote a Personal Response to Literary Texts on June 6th, in preparation for my 30-1 Diploma Exam that I'm writing on the 12th, and me in my infinite wisdom wrote a seven-page double-spaced short fantasy story that scored me 20/20. If anyone wants to read the thing, send me an e-mail (E-mails only please! Do not send in a request in a PM or in a Review) and I'll send you the Word document._

_Plus, Social on the 16th, just lovely._

_Disclaimer: Why keep saying it? I don't own it._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter V: Comatose

Aerith Gainsborough ripped her face mask off in frustration as angry tears assaulted her green eyes. She looked through the glass window towards the two teenagers still in the operating room. She and the other doctors, nurses, and aides had worked tirelessly over the past three hours to repair the physical damage done to the two keyblade wielders, finally stemming and eventually stopping the bleeding from Sora's left arm socket. The effects of healing magic were coursing as a thick current through their bloodstreams, a far more potent cure for any physical damage to their bodies than any elixir. And they were lucky that they had done so. There had been a particularly nasty gash in Kairi's back that they hadn't noticed until they had flipped her over.

But it wasn't enough; no matter what they tried there was nothing that any of them could do at the moment. For the first time Aerith felt completely helpless, and she hated the feeling. She didn't know what was wrong with her. She was the calm and thoughtful one, and the best healer in Radiant Garden, not the one to often get angry or upset, but now…

She took another hard look at Sora and Kairi's limp bodies on the tables underneath white sheets. Their hands were still clenched tightly together, and the physical injuries that both of them had sustained were healing rapidly, with the sad exception of Sora's arm. There was nothing they could do for that, entire limbs could not be regrown, even through magic.

She viciously wiped the tears that were staining her cheeks away and opened the door to step into the room again, taking an encompassing sweep of the machines hooked up to the two that monitored their vitals. The clack of her heeled shoes magnified ominously in the empty room.

"Tron, record their EEG levels over the next two hours and do another analysis of their levels over the last twenty minutes as well," Aerith said with a slight quiver in her voice. The computer program's voice responded from a speaker within the equipment.

"Are you certain Dr. Gainsborough?" his voice asked, not without concern. "It might not be any more revealing than the last ones."

"Just do it," Aerith said, "please." Tron gave a barely audible sigh.

"Here's hoping," he said, but it was without conviction. Aerith nodded and quietly thanked him. The door opened again and Aerith turned around to see Dr. Fraiser walking cautiously towards her. She could see the sympathy in her eyes and turned away, Aerith didn't need her pity now.

"Hey, you okay?" asked Janet, moving ever closer.

"Tron's doing another diagnostic of their EEG patterns," said Aerith, dodging the question with her eyes turned away.

"Aerith," said Fraiser, "they've been waiting outside for a couple of hours now and the princess has now calmed down without the help of sedatives. I think it would be best if you went and told them." Aerith sighed dismally and gave the feeblest laugh she'd ever given. She felt so hopeless.

"And tell them what Janet? That we couldn't do anything despite all we can do? That as far as we know, Sora and Kairi won't ever-"

"Don't say that!" snapped Janet sternly. "They have to Aerith, they will." Aerith gave a slight smile at the conviction in the good doctor's voice and turned her green eyes towards the comatose two on the beds. She slowly edged her way towards them both as they lay underneath the sheets, Sora's right hand still interlocked with Kairi's left in an unbreakable grip. She didn't listen to the whirring or beeping of the machines, the sound of her own breathing or even her heart's beat as she paced around to put one hand over the forehead of each young teenager. She closed her eyes and the very faintest of a turquoise glow came from between her fingertips.

She held the motion for a full five minutes, though to Aerith it seemed mere seconds before she opened her eyes again and removed her hands. A look of acceptance and understanding came into her face as she looked up at the other doctor in the room.

"I guess you're right," said Aerith. "We just have to have faith in them. It's never been wrong before. They're just lost now, but they'll find their way back." She returned to the other doctor, the smile still on her lips and dry green eyes meeting Dr. Fraiser's calm brown ones.

"So will you tell them or shall I?" Fraiser asked. Aerith nodded her head slightly.

"I will," she said before brushing past her. Fraiser made a mention of moving both patients to another ward to which Aerith nodded. The magnified clack of her heels died away as she stepped once more into the busy hallway. A male aide ambled purposefully past, carrying a cream file folder. A cart carrying small hand tools zipped out of another operating room before turning down the corridor. A patient stood in the hall, observing a painting before moving towards where his business was supposed to take him as an announcement came on the PA system. All was business as usual for the Shinra hospital; and the appearance of two keyblade masters and both princesses of the world within its bounds almost inconceivable, and yet, insubstantial in daily routine.

Aerith reached the waiting room, with its many fish tanks and potted plants set around to calm those sitting and waiting. There was one group that was her interest. Seven more had joined the group of Roxas, Naminé, Axel, Cossex, the two heads, and the three from the Islands since they had arrived hours ago. A gunblade wielder with a mane of brown hair and a thin red scar slanting across his forehead, a blonde haired and good natured pilot, a cantankerous and kind old wizard in blue robes and hat with a great white beard, an honorable and determined Chinese warrior and her fiery guardian dragon, and the son of a former (and deceased) captain of the royal bodyguard. Squall Leonhart, Cid Highwind, and Merlin the wizard, the only other members of the former Radiant Garden Restoration Committee to still be on the world, and Fa Mulan, Mushu with Cricky, and Tom Marcinek.

Roxas looked up from where he was sitting and comforting Naminé with a hand gently placed on her back. His blue eyes looked haggard, bloodshot, and sorrowful, as though he had forcibly restrained them from admitting the fear and pain that his heart felt. Aerith met his gaze for a second and the group glanced at Roxas before looking up at her. Aerith suddenly felt that she'd rather be anywhere but there.

"They're both in a coma but they're going to be alright." She said it so quickly that she was sure that none of them had understood by the blank looks they gave her.

"Could we have it again please?" Axel asked politely.

"In English," added Tom. Aerith sighed and directed her eyes towards the feet of those in the group.

"They will be alright," she said, forcing her voice into a steady pace and getting a sinking feeling in her stomach at the hopeful looks on their faces. "But, both of them are in a coma right now. There's nothing we can do for them."

Naminé's strangled gasp as a hand slowly came towards her chin jerked Roxas towards comforting her again, even while the pain flared up in his own face. Axel and Mulan both held looks of despair, the former starting to hold his head in his hands between his knees. Leon slowly came towards Aerith's shaking figure (she hadn't even noticed that she was shaking) and enveloped her in a gentle hug. Merlin began murmuring woefully under his breath and Cid roared in frustration and kicked the wall, stubbing his toe in the process and causing a curse to escape his lips. Each of the heads looked at each other in distress. The unknown woman from Destiny Islands had her head down on the shoulder of her husband, her black hair obscuring her face. The boy was looking this way and that in confusion like he was lost. Only Cossex seemed to be emotionally detached from the news.

"What did you just say about my nephew?" the man asked. Aerith brushed herself out of Leon's strong arms and looked sympathetically at the brown haired man. His neck was strained and a vein was beading.

"You're Sora's uncle?" she asked quietly. The man nodded his head and the boy and woman looked up at Aerith as well.

"I'm Sal, Sora's mother Anne is my younger sister," he said. He glanced slightly at the woman leaning on his shoulder and at the boy on his right. "This is my wife Victoria and my son Sade."

"Our daughter Sikora is still at our home," Victoria added.

"Would someone mind telling me what's going on?" Sade asked, running a hand through his hair. Naminé slowly got up from her seat.

"I'm going to send messages to Riku and King Mickey," she said absently, apparently having not heard the family to her left. Sade's jade eyes hardened and his face whipped towards her.

"Riku!" he spat violently. "What does he have to do with this?"

"Calm down Sade," Sal said quietly in a strained voice as Naminé walked away with Roxas. "Since nobody has jumped to explain anything over the past few hours, I suppose we can wait a little longer to find out what happened to Sora."

-A-D-

"L1 Triangle!" Stewie yelled in Max's ear as the boy sat on the red couch in the _Highwind_'s cabin. "L1 Triangle! Use an aero spell!"

"Shut up Stewie, I know what I'm doing!" Max roared in retaliation as he repeatedly jammed his thumb down on the 'X' button of his controller, causing the character on screen to swing his weapon at his enemy's face. Moments later a swirling vortex of air appeared over his controlled character, cast by another party member.

"Get ready for this!" the boss he was battling declared before raising a golden trident and causing lightning bolts to cascade down through the water in which the battle was taking place.

"Damn Ursula," Max growled, maneuvering the digital dolph-Sora around to avoid the sea-witch's attacks while keeping an eye on both Ariel's and Donald's health and magic bars.

"L1 Square!" Stewie shouted. "Use Blizzard you insufferable and unsophisticated lout!"

"Stop backseat gaming!" Max yelled, turning his head to glare at Stewie. He heard a siren suddenly start blaring from the screen and his eyes whipped back in horror to see Sora's health bar flashing red. He quickly acted, casting a cure spell on Sora the same time that Donald did, effectively doubling the amount of health he regained. However, only a moment later Donald was knocked out by Ursula as she opened her mouth and began sucking the party in towards her mouth. Max evaded the attack and quickly went back towards attacking Ursula with everything he had at his disposal, ignoring the lightning bolts as much as possible even as Ariel was knocked unconscious. He had just brought the boss down to half a bar of health when Sora gave a cry and a black screen with Sora's body floating underneath a heart and the words 'Continue' and 'Load Game' on buttons underneath it.

"NO!" Max groaned. "I hate you Ursula! That's the fifth time! And I was so close!"

"Give me that thing," Asterix growled from next to Max, snatching the controller from him. The wielder of the keyblade had seen enough of them massacring the same poor wielder over and over. Max and Stewie watched in rapt attention as the Gaul played through the battle, bringing the grit and fire of an old warrior into his style of play. They were so fascinated and absorbed in the game that the three of them never noticed the green light that started flashing near the stairs to the bridge, nor the high-pitched siren that began to sound.

Yuffie stormed out from the hall, a white apron tied on, black smudges on her face, and oven mitts held tightly in one hand. At the same time that Riku appeared from his room.

"Are any of you going to get that?" Yuffie asked irritatedly as she joined up with Riku at the foot of the stairs. She noticed some water dripping from his face and a small amount of blood on several spots on his chin as well as some tissue in his hands. She looked inquiringly at him.

"What were you doing?" she asked as they made their way up the stairs to the bridge.

"Shaving," Riku replied in a frustrated grunt. The kunoichi snorted slightly and rolled her eyes. She strolled up towards a console and touched the green button. A small screen slid out from the console and, after a moment of grey screen, an image appeared on it. Riku raised his eyebrow slightly when he saw that Roxas and Naminé were the ones sending the transmission, and at the look in Naminé's eyes.

"Sorry for calling you guys," Roxas said evasively, not looking either of them in the eye. "Hope we aren't interrupting anything?"

"Not really," Yuffie pouted sarcastically, folding her arms over her chest and letting the silver oven mitts dangle pointedly at an angle. "Just me failing at baking cookies." The sight at seeing Roxas and Naminé on the transmission hadn't fazed her in the slightest. She had already learned that both of the nobodies had become real and had (at times when she was _really_ bored) talked to Naminé on several occasions even while the girl was in the hospital.

"And at my dismal first attempt at shaving," said Riku, touching the tissue in his hand to a bleeding spot on his jaw.

"How are you doing?" Naminé asked.

"Not too bad," Riku answered, removing the tissue to examine it. "We're only… three more hours away from reaching Atlantis. It's been a lot easier than I expected; we haven't had to unlock any world gateways either."

"Which is kinda strange," Yuffie added. "Considering that Sora had to unlock one for every world he ever had to travel to before."

"What's wrong?" Riku asked quickly, his aqua eyes darting between the two former nobodies. Both of them had winced and shifted their eyes towards one another at the mention of Sora's name.

"I told you we shouldn't have tried to beat around the bush," Roxas chided quietly, but still loud enough for Riku and Yuffie to hear.

"Well excuse me for being upset about this whole thing," Naminé retorted, keeping her voice at its normal volume even while directing her speech at Roxas. "She's my sister."

"And if she's your sister then he's my brother," Roxas answered. "I'm just as concerned as you are."

"About what?" Riku asked with narrowing eyes. Roxas rubbed the back of his neck and rolled his head, keeping his eyes to his own feet.

"Sora and Kairi arrived here in Radiant Garden earlier today, being carried by Cossex and Sora's aunt, uncle, and cousin, Sade," said Roxas.

"Sade?!" spat Riku.

"They're in a coma," Naminé finished sadly.

Yuffie's oven mitts fell with a soft thud seconds before Riku's damp and bloody tissue joined them.

Riku felt his heart give a great jolt that had nothing to do with Yuffie's startled sob or grasping arm. "We're coming," he announced grimly, moving towards the center console, "we're coming now."

Max and Stewie whooped victory cries the instant before they noticed that the ship had suddenly been turned around and blasted into warp space. Inertial dampeners or no, they were still thrown off the couch and into a wall.

-A-D-

The doors to the hospital blasted open just as the sky started to redden with the oncoming dusk. In rushed Riku, Yuffie, and Max, disregarding the frightened looks of the startled aides, workers, and assorted peoples that milled about in the waiting area. Up behind them came Asterix and Stewie, not quite as quickly but still at a fair pace, and behind them waddled a curious Obelix with Dogmatix, the menhir left to sit to the side of the door.

They took their first right upon reaching the fish tanks and saw several people stand upon their arrival. Riku's eyes sought out Roxas first, and he moved quickly towards him. The voice of another stopped him in his tracks before any words could leave his lips.

"Riku," growled Sade. Riku's eyes flashed towards him in animosity.

"Sade," Riku replied, his tone matching the younger teen's perfectly. Yuffie and Max swept past him without a pause, Asterix and Obelix moving into the room slowly while Stewie stopped and glared at the back of Riku's head, his arms folded and foot tapping expectantly.

"How are they doing?" Yuffie asked, one of her hands grasping Naminé's. The blonde shook her head sadly.

"They're still unconscious," she answered. "Dr. Fraiser and Aerith have moved them into another room, but we're waiting until King Mickey arrives before we go in to see them."

"They made the news," Axel added with a turn of his head while he remained sitting next to Cossex. "I'd expect visitors from other worlds that know them will start showing up soon."

"Who are all these people?" a little ice blue head quietly whispered to the white one next to it. Despite the quietness in her voice, Max's keen ears still picked up the sound.

"I don't know," he said, cocking his head inquiringly as he looked at the two creatures. "Who are you two?" Riku stopped glaring at Sade long enough to take a glance at the two as well, a look of confusion taking hold of his face.

"You can't be Aiwemon or Menelmon can you?" They both looked up at him.

"Oh I remember you, you're Riku," the white one said. "You wouldn't recognize us in this form. But I'm Ninquemon. I'm Aiwemon in my Rookie form."

"And I'm Luinmon, Menelmon at my Rookie level," said the ice blue one. Riku nodded his head slightly.

"Right… digimon. I remember that now." He brushed past Sade, not taking care to avoid clipping him with his shoulder, and sat down next to the two digimon, as they only took up one seat. Riku turned his head to the left and nodded at Sade's father. "Sal."

"Riku," the man replied, nodding as well.

"Victoria."

"Riku."

"Where's Sikora?" Riku asked. Sade stepped in front of Riku and glared down at him.

"She's still back at the ranch," he seethed. "So you can't try anything." Riku gave a slight, and very dry, chuckle.

"In case you didn't know yet, Sade," he growled. "I already have a girlfriend." Riku smiled slightly and turned a warm eye to Yuffie, whose smile was just as half-hearted.

"You two look nice together," Victoria said, looking at Yuffie. At this point Stewie gained a devious grin and pitter-patted his little feet very quickly to Riku and climbed into his lap. Riku felt his eyes, along with those of everyone else, bulge while Asterix merely slapped his head.

"Who is that?" Leon asked.

"You all couldn't have had a kid," Cid reasoned, his toothpick twitching in his mouth. "You haven't been gone that long." Yuffie's face turned an angry crimson and she rounded on the pilot.

"What's that supposed to mean Cid?" she said heatedly, her hands dropping onto the sides of her hips. "You think that Riku and I have actually done IT?" Cid huffed.

"I'd trust you and the silver kid less than I'd trust either of the princesses and the spikies."

Cid yelped as Yuffie's booted toe connected with his shin. He then fell backwards as a human missile, or toddler missile rather, crashed into his head.

"His name's Stewie Griffin," Riku said calmly, Cid's insult not appearing to have affected him at all. "I summoned him from a charm and he's refused to go back into it. And my hair is not silver Cid. Take a long hard look at it if you're still conscious." Cid couldn't retort, but Stewie could after he got off of Cid's head.

"God!" he said, dusting himself off. "As if I'd ever be caught dead being your child. What a degrading insult." Obelix looked at Asterix.

"You mean he isn't?" he asked. Asterix jumped up and whacked Obelix on the head.

"Obelix you're really getting me down! Of course he isn't!" Obelix turned his nose up at his friend.

"Well excuse me Mister Asterix if I can't keep up as to whose baby's whose."

Stewie tisked and kicked Cid. "The woman cooks worse than Meg looks." He looked past Yuffie, who didn't know to what degree she should be insulted at his comment, at Riku.

"Thank you," Stewie said. "When the universe is mine, your death shall be quick and painless."

"Hn," Riku grunted casually. "I'll look forward to that day." Stewie frowned at him.

"Hm, you don't take my threat seriously? Well maybe you should!" From behind his back he suddenly pulled a pipe and rushed towards Riku with it, yelling a wild battle cry. Asterix reacted first by summoning his Indomitable and striking the pipe with it. Stewie halted his charge and instead concentrated on the short wielder. They exchanged a few quick strokes against each other before Stewie jumped up in a roll and landed on Asterix's other side, a backhand slice lashing out at the wielder's back. Asterix reacted faster than the toddler expected and deflected the blow with his keyblade before knocking the pipe with an even faster stroke. Stewie felt his weapon leave his grasp at the strength of the last blow.

"That's enough out of you," Asterix said, banishing his keyblade from his hand. Stewie gave Riku a quick glare before bowing in front of Asterix, his arms hidden by his massive head. He snapped back to a standing position, each of his hands holding a ray gun. Asterix was quick to place his hands in front of him, a honeycomb shell forming around him, taking in the shots from Stewie's guns. Riku leapt in front of Asterix, Way to the Dawn appearing in his right hand. Stewie's target now shifted back to Riku, the green fire from his guns now being aimed at Riku's chest.

"You're the one who should take me seriously," Riku assured Stewie, Way to the Dawn twisting and weaving to catch each of Stewie's shots as Riku moved closer to the toddler. Stewie grimaced and clicked each of his guns, switching their mode from single shot to fully automatic. He laughed as he unloaded at Riku, knowing that he would be unable to block each shot. Riku only smirked as a dark form rose from his chest, the Guardian taking all of the shots in its slightly rosy chest.

Stewie also didn't notice Obelix's pudgy finger flick him into a wall. He was unconscious before he hit the floor. Dogmatix gave a single bark.

Riku dismissed his keyblade and the Guardian dropped back within him. He turned to look at Aerith, noticing that every eye, apart from Yuffie's or Max's, was trained at him and Asterix. He had been about to ask for someone to see to Stewie, but was spared from answering and questioning when he heard the padding of webbed feet. His head turned in time to see a certain court magician rush into the room.

"Wak!" Donald yelped angrily. "Where's Sora? I'm going to teach him a lesson for ending up in a hospital." The padding of Goofy's large steps sounded as he stepped into the room, a white gloved finger to his chin while he looked at Stewie's limp form on the ground.

"Gawrsh Donald," Goofy said. "I think there may have been a scuffle of some kind. Maybe Sora bit off more than he could chew." Donald folded his arms over his chest, his blue hat tipping further down onto his head as he frowned.

"It wouldn't be the first time," he mumbled.

"Are Sora and Princess Kairi still in a coma?" King Mickey asked as he stepped into the waiting room.

"They are Your Excellency," Mulan said apprehensively, still looking curiously at Asterix. Mickey nodded his head at Riku, and then his eyes spotted the Gaulish wielder. Asterix bowed.

"It's been a long time Your Majesty," said Asterix. King Mickey nodded.

"Yes it has Asterix," he replied. "I see you've decided to join in our fight." Asterix rose from his bow and nodded grimly.

"The heartless attacked my world and village," he explained, "it was the least I could do; especially after I heard the words of the Goddess." Naminé's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

_Goddess,_ she thought. _Does he mean Thessaura?_ She shook her head slightly and started moving forward, the sound of her bare feet on the floor reaching all of their ears.

"I'm going to see them," she said quietly. "Who's going to come with me?"

They all rose and followed her as Aerith guided the group to the room where the two were kept. Yuffie grimaced and picked Stewie up, placing him on her shoulder before following the others. Sora and Kairi lay unconscious and towards each other on two beds placed together, a large sheet and blanket covering the two of them. The group couldn't tell, but underneath that blanket, their hands were still clenched together while the coma persisted. A little sweat beaded on each of their foreheads. Cid rubbed his jaw.

"Ha, maybe I should trust those two even less than you two," he said. The dull thud of Yuffie and Naminé punching him filled the silent room. Donald's eyes widened and he stretched his feathered arm out towards Sora, barely mumbling his name. Tom looked uncomfortably around, especially at Naminé's teary eyes.

"Maybe the rest of us should come back later," he said, respectfully backing out of the room. Riku, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Max, Roxas, Naminé, Ninquemon, Luinmon, Sal, Sade, and Victoria were left alone with the two and Aerith, each left to pull up a chair while she remained standing and the two digimon rested on Roxas and Naminé's laps.

"Dr. Gainsborough," Tron's voice began, speaking directly into the room. "I've finished my analysis and am continuing to monitor their EEG levels. They're still in a coma." Riku suddenly thumped his fist on his leg.

"Damn it Sora, wake up!" he yelled. In the blink of an eye he leapt from his chair and rushed to shake the younger teen's shoulders, hoping beyond hope to revive him by mere physical contact. He gasped and froze in place as soon as his fingers made contact with his left shoulder through the blanket. His aqua eyes were a mirror into his soul at that moment, showing a hidden pit of fear.

"He's lost his left arm, Riku," Aerith said quietly. Riku plopped helplessly back down in his chair and his head fell to his knees. Donald's head fell softly next to Sora's while his arms wrapped around the teen's head and shoulders. Goofy and King Mickey sympathetically placed hands on the duck's sagging shoulders.

"Is this really my poor nephew?" Victoria asked. "And is that really the sweet girl that was with him at his eight birthday? Someone please tell me that this is just a horrible joke."

"It's not a joke," Roxas choked. "They are Sora and Kairi."

"But what could have possibly happened to them?" Donald asked through muffled sobs, his words being slightly distorted. Riku's fists clutched his knees tighter. It was a while before anyone could distinguish the muffled sounds they were hearing were from him.

Ninquemon gave a long and pronounced sigh, drawing the eyes of everyone except for Riku towards him. "We fought against Hades and Maleficent on Destiny Islands." Riku's head shot up and he looked at him in horror.

"You what!?" Donald quacked. He then lost his shock and looked in confusion at Ninquemon, the little In-Training digimon sitting on Roxas' lap. "Umm, what are you?"

"We're Sora and Kairi's digimon partners," Luinmon said. Goofy scratched his head.

"Digi-mon?" he asked.

"Digital monsters," Ninquemon said.

"Creatures from a world made out of digital computer code," Tron's voice clarified. Ninquemon and Luinmon looked up for the source of the voice.

"You know about the Digital World?" Luinmon asked. Tron's voice came back in a chuckle.

"I guess you could call us somewhat related," he said. "I'm a computer program myself, and my world is the mainframe of Radiant Garden's computer system. Data from this system works with computer data from every other system in encoding and creating the Digital World."

"But Izzy says that the Digital World runs directly parallel to the other worlds," said Luinmon. "And events in the Digital World can directly influence the other technologically advanced worlds."

"I wouldn't say anything against that," Tron replied.

"I'm so lost," Sade mumbled.

"Join the club," Max said. Sade's eyes whipped towards him.

"And what are _you_ supposed to be?" he snapped, "Some kind of dog?" Everyone's eyes hardened and they glowered at him.

"Sade," his father chided. "Show some integrity. Even if this is our first time off-world you don't have to be so rude."

"Don't bite his head off," Riku added. Sade's head turned towards him, his body language showing his hostility.

"This is all your fault," he declared. Riku stood, his arms shaking with sudden anger. Those who could sense it felt the power emanating from him, even though he kept it in check.

"You want to run that by me again Sade?" Riku growled. "Maybe try your luck?"

"You have some strange phenomenal powers Riku," Sade continued, the daggers in his eyes speaking volumes about his disdain for the larger and older youth. "You could have been there and helped him." Riku's hand experienced a tiny muscle spasm.

"Sora and Kairi have powers of their own Sade," he growled, "different from mine, but no less potent. And both have become highly skilled with the blade through necessity."

"Don't do anything rash now Riku," Aerith said, a warning tone in her voice. "Remember this is a hospital, and I can have you removed if you become unstable."

"She almost did it to me," Naminé said, the corners of her mouth twitching. "I was apparently too restless."

Riku appeared not to have noticed, he simply kept standing and staring at Sade, the other boy remaining in his seat and glowering just as intensely at Riku. Despite what Sade had seen Riku do against Stewie, he refused to back down, forcing them both into an impasse. They kept it up for several minutes, the air growing so thick and tense that no one dared to breathe any louder than they could. Finally Riku sat down the same moment as Sade's head dropped, his jade eyes avoiding Riku's aqua ones.

"What are these powers?" Victoria asked, one hand shakily held to her forehead. "Are they what Anne spoke of over the phone last month?" King Mickey sighed from within his chair, a tiny cricket in a black tailcoat and blue top hat popping out from one of his red pockets.

"Should we tell them Your Majesty?" Jiminy Cricket asked.

"Gawrsh, they are Sora's family aren't they?" Goofy asked. "I think they have a right to know."

"Then we'd best start at the beginning again," Roxas said, rubbing his face with both palms. He caught sight of Sora's comatose body underneath the sheets, the lack of his left arm now evident as his head faced Kairi's, her visible face showing no emotion, and his expression became more sullen and serious. He was determined to make these people, his new relatives, come completely to terms with what had happened, including his existence.

-A-D-

_Please leave a review if you feel so inclined._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	6. Insecurities

_I'm sorry for the lack of updates, but it's Diploma Exam time and I've been doing a lot of reading as well as playing __**Sins of a Solar Empire**__. It's an amazing game, RTS on an unrivaled scale._

_Part A Diploma Exams are over! Here's hoping I did well on those written parts! Now, I just have Physics on the 23rd, English Part B and Calculus (Math 31) on the 25th, and Social Part B on the 26th._

_I decided I wanted to update a little early this week instead of on Sunday._

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything that isn't mine. Very descriptive isn't it?_

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter VI: Insecurities

Sora looked nervously at Kairi from behind their tree as they saw the glint in Rea'lintaeth's silver eyes. The elf had spoken with such conviction in his voice that there was no longer any doubt in their minds. Despite his earlier ramblings, they knew now that he was not crazy, only a ruse to get the youth in front of them to lower their guard against him.

And his ruse had worked until he had drawn Foradaltan and Gonbaltan, his slender crimson and blue scimitars. The elf's face was drawn in a confident smirk towards the two young men in front of him. Prince Roan glanced apprehensively at Kasai, who was glancing up towards his older and definitely stronger cousin with the same expression. They each held out their right hand, and in each palm a blade materialized in a flash of white light. Sora felt his eyes widen and once more he nearly fell out from behind their cover in shock.

_More keyblades?_ He thought, devouring the two swords with his eyes. In Kasai's hand there rested a blade as red as the boy's hair, a golden-red keychain in the shape of the crown pendant hanging from its black pommel. Sora unconsciously fingered the pendant around his neck while Kairi kept him steady. The keyblade in Kasai's hand had a guard that swirled around its black handle, the hilt two searing flames. The same seven pointed star that joined Niphredil's hilt and blade connected the two parts of this keyblade as well, and it glowed an intense incendiary white. The blade furled around in a small corkscrew, orange and yellow creeping its way into the dominant red from a central core that the corkscrew orbited. The screw and core fused near the end into a golden red dragon's neck and head, its maw opened wide as it curled slightly at the neck, looking like a companion blade to what Sora had called 'Fatal Crest'.

Roan's keyblade had a golden square guard and silver handle, the keychain a dangling platinum shield. Two feathered golden wings stretched out from the point of intersection of the guard and blade. The weapon's silver shaft was long and shapely, small lines creeping like vines across the curved blade until they joined near the end into a block of silver with a single spike cut out of it.

Sora shifted uneasily as he saw Rea'lintaeth's silver eyes glint in fascination, the elvish warrior beginning work his feet to circle the two wielders. His head was cocked to one side and he chuckled slightly while his swords spun in his palms, forcing Kasai and Roan to shift closer to one another and more in front of Niphredil as she quickly found herself standing behind rather than beside them.

Roan growled at the elf's arrogant antics. "Akeisha, you and Niph get Haruchi and Cass out of here to safety."

"Excuse me Roan," Haruchi grumbled. "But I don't need anyone telling me when to get out of here. I can leave when I want."

The glint in Rea'lintaeth's silver eyes gleamed like the moon.

Roan acted quickly in moving his blade to block a descending Foradaltan while Kasai caught the horizontal attack of a swift Gonbaltan from the right hand side. Even with both attacks foiled the elf moved seamlessly in switching the pattern, Foradaltan now sweeping to the side towards Prince Roan's hip and Gonbaltan moving upwards in a cut at Kasai's chin. Even when the parries came to deny him the elf was prepared, twirling both blades back in front of him before striking out at both young men in an 'X'. Their silver and golden-red blades rose to meet the challenge and a reddish blast came from their meeting, driving the prince and his cousin back on their feet.

"I think that now is the time to leave," Haruchi observed, her feet already moving backwards.

"Come on Cassie," Niphredil said quickly, backing away from the conflict before she would get drawn into the twirling melee. She passed by the brunette, who stayed her feet even as her body made motions to get away. Her worried vision was towards her brother, and it lasted just long enough for his eyes to finally find her and give her a comforting smile. The slightest of grins appeared for a second on Cassie's face.

"Cassandra hurry!" Niph yelled from the tree line, already out of their small clearing with Haruchi and Akeisha. Cass's grin vanished and her feet finally found the air as her boots rushed over the dirt and roots towards her female relatives and friend. The four of them promptly vanished into the woods and Sora and Kairi smiled slightly, glad that they were safe. Their smiles faded when the ring of clashing steel broke out again as Rea'lintaeth's offensive began anew.

The blades held by the elf glowed with a haunting light, flashing their colour with every strike against the keyblades. Sora quickly saw what the elf was doing. He truly was giving the two young warriors a test. The patterns of the dance the three of them wove shifted and changed as often as the winds. Rea'lintaeth would move quickly one moment, his blades darting in at a weak point in their defenses, and would then pull back and impossibly shift his angle of attack at a newly weakened area. Roan and Kasai put up to the challenge magnificently, carefully keeping an eye on the other's back while blocking and twisting away from the ever more dangerous elvish strokes.

Roan easily came off as the more skilled of the pair as the speed and bewilderment of the stabbing scimitars increased and the strokes fell heavier. Sora was surprised at the speed at which the elf brought into play, and he looked down at where his arm had previously been when Kasai received a nick to his shoulder, cutting through and staining the boy's black vest.

The hole in his shoulder bore into his eyes while Kairi's were unable to leave the fight. Against his will he glanced back at the battle and his eyes sighed. They needed help; he knew it, but after the events that had just transpired against him Sora'd never felt so helpless and pathetic before. He didn't know why he felt that way, he just did. The whole thing could have been avoided, he realized. He was the one who had suggested going to the Islands in the first place. He was the one who had antagonized Maleficent while she still possessed Kairi. He had been the most actively engaged in the battle, and he was the one who was stupid enough to let himself get hit, forcing Kairi to be left undefended.

He glanced again at the elf's twisting and turning blades. He had never seen such swordplay before, except from one man. Sephiroth's ability lay in the very fear he gave his opponents, and he was swifter when executing his strikes than the wind. This elf now was the same. His very skill struck fear into Sora's already weakened heart, driving back any thoughts of trying to engage him. He doubted that even if he had not lost his arm he would be able to defeat the elf.

He doubted himself, for the first time. Never before had Sora ever doubted his abilities. He had always before believed that the battle would be tough, that there was only a small possibility of winning, but that he would beat the odds and squeak a victory through the impossible pinprick of a hole. He hadn't always succeeded, but his confidence had never been shaken. Not with the Kraken, not with Nixion, not even with SkullGreymon. He had always before believed that he would be able to protect Kairi, to keep her safe from harm. Now though, after what had just happened…

Kasai's face was lit by blue light as pushed his flustered feet out of a small crater that he had found himself in after blocking Gonbaltan's clear blue blade moving on a collision course with his head. Sora could see the sweat on his brow as he shifted his gaze once more.

"From the bowels of the great dragon's heart," Kasai began to chant, flickering golden flames starting to dance around his keyblade, "in the furnaces of his throat, I call on the Drag-" His chant was unfortunately cut short when Rea'lintaeth's blue blade came down once more upon him. His incomplete spell misfired, and a jet of racing, golden fire erupted from the maw of his draconian keyblade. A tithe of the fire blasted into the side of the elf's black armour, but the energy behind it was enough to send him into a spin. The rest of the flames continued unabated until striking a tree with a violent explosion, felling both it and its neighbor. Rea'lintaeth used the spin to his advantage and brought both of his blades to bear upon Roan, forcing the prince's feet to dance backwards for a second to avoid Gonbaltan's overbearing presence while Foradaltan came in on his right. But the attack on him turned into a feint and Foradaltan sliced right past and under Roan's guard and the tip cut into Kasai's leg. They were amazed, for he was squinting throughout the whole maneuver.

"They need help," said Kairi quietly, inclining her head towards Sora. He shook his head shakily, his newly discovered lack of confidence getting the better of him.

"No they need to get out of here," he said, trying to rise and get behind the tree again, "and so do we." Kairi looked at him like he was crazy for even suggesting that.

"What?" she asked vehemently. "We have to help them!"

"With what?" Sora asked angrily, "with this?" He shook his shoulder at Kairi and she turned her head away. "You can't even bear to look at it. I can't even stand up on my own anymore, let alone move or fight." He turned his head away from her and looked at the duel again, Roan now receiving a nick seconds after his gaze returned to the battle.

"Then I'll have to do something," Kairi said quickly, stepping out from behind the tree.

"Kairi what are you doing?" Sora hissed, grasping his arm around the tree to keep standing. Kairi made no answer, and instead raised her palm towards the combatants.

"S_ílerë Kírië,"_ she said, her voice echoing with a note of command. From her right palm the light of her heart shone forth towards the three combatants. Rea'lintaeth stabbed both of his scimitars into the ground with a shriek and covered his eyes, blinded. Roan and Kasai looked around to see the source of the light, and were promptly surprised to see Kairi standing there beside the tree. Her light stopped shining and the young princess looked at her right palm in confusion while her left hand went to feeling her throat, like she had something unfamiliar stuck in it.

"Who are-?" Roan began to ask, but Sora tossed himself out into the open, distracting Kairi from her contemplations as she rushed to make sure he didn't fall over.

"No time to explain," he said frantically, giving Kairi a small smile of appreciation. "Let's get out of here." Roan and Kasai wasted no time in agreeing. They dismissed their keyblades and began rushing after Sora and Kairi, adrenaline keeping the pain each of them felt from accumulated wounds at bay while Rea'lintaeth still kept his eyes shunned away.

Their panting breaths and the rustling of their booted feet over the dry, cracked leaves filled the empty silence of the forest as the four ran haphazardly. Each one of them was injured more than they wanted to let on in their run. For Sora, he had no left arm and numerous cuts and scrapes from repeated falls despite the help of the others. Kairi was also afflicted by the scratches from the falls, as she had been the one who was mostly helping Sora and so stumbled nearly as often as he tripped, but she also had a deep gouge in her back (that inexplicably did not bleed) that she refused to let anyone know of even though it pained her greatly. Roan and Kasai were both suffering from wounds they had received in their battle with Rea'lintaeth Torahl Nightrunner. Each grimaced in pain as the wounds his enchanted scimitars had left either seared with flaming heat or froze like ice. The trees were quickly getting thicker, their trunks becoming more ancient, with bark turning towards black as the light they navigated with gradually vanished, both with the lowering Sun and the ever thicker canopy above them.

Sora threw his head around and took a quick glance behind them, fearing that the elf was pursuing them. He saw nothing but a black squirrel running along the ground from one tree to another, and took that as a good sign that the elf was not near them. But no matter what he thought, his unease only grew. He'd rather know where their dangerous adversary was. He turned his head back around in time to avoid a gnarled tree root that would have sent him and Kairi sprawling to the ground once more. His head popped back up after the root passed beyond his sight and he saw a sight that made him shiver with fright and nearly whimper. Kairi looked at him inquiringly before following his gaze. She had been the only one among them to keep her spirits somewhat high, to be the brave and courageous one leading them through the woods, but when she saw what Sora saw she diminished and wilted with fright.

Giant spider webs were strung between at least three large trees. They could only imagine the size of the creatures that had spun those webs, and the mere notion nearly brought Sora to a blithering mass while Kairi's knees had become too shaky to keep the keyblade master standing up. Due to events in their past, in which both parties as well as several others had been involved, Sora had become mortally afraid of spiders and Kairi was effectively cowed by any bug apart from ladybugs or butterflies.

Roan and Kasai slowed the pace and kept the two going for another fifteen minutes until they all stopped with unconscious agreement in a dense copse of ash trees, only a small mist of grey light remaining for them to see. They couldn't see the spider webs in this light anymore, and Sora and Kairi were calmed, even though the lack of light pressed in upon their hearts, making Sora feel even more vulnerable than he did before. He sat down and leaned his back against the trunk of a particularly thick tree.

"We should have come across the girls by now," Kasai said uneasily, looking around for any signs of them.

"I don't think we took the right way," Prince Roan said as he leaned against the trunk of one of the trees. Kairi looked down from where she had remained standing, near to Sora's sitting place.

"I'm sorry," she said. "There weren't any paths to follow." It was then that Kasai and Roan looked suspiciously at her and Sora, catching both of them off guard.

"Who are you?" Roan asked quickly. "Where do you come from? Why should we trust you?"

"Calm down a little Roan," Kasai said. "They did just save our necks." Roan continued his stare for another few seconds before sighing and doing as the younger man asked.

"To answer your first question," said Sora with a heavy heart. "I'm Sora from Destiny Islands, and this is Princess Kairi of Radiant Garden." The eyes of the two young men flew open at his words.

"It can't be," Roan said with his jaw struck open. Kasai's eyes inadvertently shifted between Sora's face, pendant, and left shoulder in quick succession before returning to hold Roan's. Sora shifted uncomfortably at the eye flicker to where his arm should have been. He already didn't like the eye movement.

"It is," Kasai said.

Kairi's shoulder slumped against the side of the tree that Sora was under, one eyebrow raised humourously. "What?" she asked. She, of course, had already figured out the reason for their surprise, especially after the feeling she had felt when she met Niphredil. She wasn't sure how it had come to her, but it had, and the thought really was outrageous that she should be meeting these people when she was only sixteen!

Roan stood up straight from the tree he had been leaning against, bringing himself to his full height, in which he still towered over Sora and Kairi by several inches. "I am Prince Roan Axel Macilu, Crown Prince of Radiant Garden. I am the firstborn child and son of Prince Roxas, and Queen Naminé." Kairi felt her eyes bulge and managed to open her mouth first.

"Queen!?" she said in surprise.

"Prince!?" Sora asked.

"When did this happen?" Kairi asked. "What date is this? Where, when, are we?" She and Sora shared disturbed glances as Kasai cleared his throat. All previous humour and confidence that Kairi had held vanished.

"Well, today is July 23rd, 2033, and I'm Kasai Naur Elen," he said, partially avoiding their questions and speaking somewhat quieter than Roan had declared. "And I suppose you have already figured out who my parents are." He added in a slight chuckle at the end as he saw Sora give a brief smile.

"We did," said Sora, who couldn't resist adding, "my boy." Kasai and Kairi rolled their eyes.

"Thanks dad," he said sarcastically.

"This still doesn't answer anything," Sora said after a slight pause. "How could this have happened?"

"Well…" Roan began very slowly. "When a man and a woman love each other very much-"

"Do you want us to hurt you?" Kairi asked, her face turning a red that the others couldn't see in the dim light.

"I think Roxas and Naminé would understand," Sora added, "after all the comments they've made so far."

"I am not so sure that they would take you harming me so lightly," Roan said, wincing at the pain in one of the wounds on his shoulder.

"Sure they would," Sora answered. "Roxas is always good like that."

"But the people of Radiant Garden wouldn't," Roan warned with a wry recovering smile, knowing that he had won the battle.

"Fair point," Sora conceded. "But I'm still confused as to how Kairi and I got here. I mean, almost 30 years?"

"I don't think we will know exactly how Sora," Kairi said with a shake of her head.

"Well if this isn't a convenient surprise." Their hearts all froze in fear as they all looked in the voice's direction. His armour was black as pitch in the low light amongst the trees, but his silver eyes gleamed through it all. Rea'lintaeth had returned.

"I was ordered to test the abilities of the males of the party," the elf said while taking a step forward, the black metal of his boots cracking a dead branch beneath his feet. Roan and Kasai's keyblades appeared in their grasp and they looked apprehensively at each other while Rea'lintaeth continued speaking. "But how wonderful is this; the master of the keyblade, and a Princess of Heart, right when they are most vulnerable? I don't think any spider has ever had a juicier catch than this." His blades were out of their sheaths in an instant.

"Should I kill you now," he mused, "when your conscious minds are here in the future, you will cease to exist back in the past. Mere empty shells, stuck lying in a coma for all eternity." He smiled wickedly. "Oh, how that would make history so much better." Sora carefully rose from his position at the base of his tree, looking at the elf while his future son and nephew moved defensively in front of him and Kairi. Fear clutched at his heart like a grasping, writhing animal, and it must have shown on his face for the elf's smile only grew wider. Sora kept his back to the trunk of the tree to steady himself, and moved his arm to summon his keyblade into his grasp.

His eyes widened in abject horror and he nearly fell over again when it did not come to his call.

How could he defend himself now? How could he protect Kairi, protect the valiant son he would come to have? How could he do anything to help the worlds now? Why did this have to happen now? It had come when he had summoned it in front of Niphredil! Why was it now abandoning him?

Rea'lintaeth smirked and moved in on Roan and Kasai, pressuring them again as he had before. Except now, it showed that he was truly superior to the both of them. The low light appeared to suit his eyes just fine, and every time his blades flickered and flashed in red or blue light it revealed the strain in the faces of each of the youth, blocking or twisting away from the ceaseless onslaught.

"Sora what's wrong?" Kairi asked worriedly, seeing how tense he had suddenly become.

_I can't do anything_, Sora thought dejectedly, all of his failures suddenly weighting in on him as he saw Kasai receive another cut from the icy blue blade. _I can't do anything right! Nothing has worked out the way it should. I can't help Roan or Kasai, I couldn't stop my home from being destroyed, I couldn't save my mother, I couldn't save Captain Jack Sparrow, I couldn't help my father, I couldn't save Rufio, I could barely keep Tai safe when Greymon digivolved to SkullGreymon, I couldn't help Aiwemon when he was turned to stone, I couldn't keep The Land of Dragons from being lost, I couldn't even protect Kairi, the girl, the young woman I'd give my life in an instant to save! I don't deserve her. I don't deserve Donald, or Goofy, Max or The King. I don't deserve Riku, or Roxas, or Aiwemon. I don't deserve any of my friends!_ His eyes strayed over the backs of the blonde and red haired youth standing protectively in front of him and Kairi, trying desperately to hold off the elf's assault._ I don't deserve this future. I'm not worth anything!_

Rea'lintaeth's smile slipped into an open grin and hearty chuckle while his scimitars slipped back into their sheaths, suddenly pulling himself out of the fight. "Well this is too good to be true! The keyblade master, keybladeless!" His hand dipped into the folds of his cloak while Roan and Kasai whipped their tired and panting heads to stare back at Sora, dumbfounded. Sora's head dropped, his hair concealing his face from their looks while his remaining hand balled into a fist. He felt Kairi's delicate hand come sympathetically onto his shoulder, but he shrugged it off, and suddenly felt angry at himself for denying Kairi the ability to comfort him. He didn't want her pity.

Rea'lintaeth had paused, his head cocked to the side while his smile grew more maniacal. "This rather is too good for me," Rea'lintaeth continued, now drawing out a tiny hand crossbow in his ebony hand. "But it isn't too good for _them_."

"Who are _they_ then?" Kairi dared to ask, drawing her stinging eyes away from the back of Sora's head. Rea'lintaeth gave her a blank look.

"Who?" he repeated. Then his smile returned and his other hand rose. A globe of impenetrable darkness dropped over the four instantly. Sora felt that the blindness he now experienced in this murky wood was the perfect compliment for his mood. He heard the yelps of Roan and Kasai, as each of them felt the sting of a quarrel. Each cry burned deep in Sora's mind as another person he had failed to protect, another reason as to why he was unfit to be the saviour of the worlds, another reminder that he could not protect those he loved. He could hear the voices of those around him, distressed at their complete inability to see, but he paid them no heed. He had no power over the darkness. His darkest memories swirled around him in this utter lack of light. The time he spent falling into darkness after stabbing himself with the Keyblade of Captive Hearts, his memory of whipping Kairi, and any memory of seeing her or his friends in pain, most prominent among them.

There came the dull groans and thuds of Roan and Kasai hitting the ground inexplicably, and at the same instant a hand gripped his arm.

"Sora is that you?" Kairi asked fearfully through the darkness.

"It's me," he answered, though he drew his voice out from the depths of his stomach. It was almost unbearable for her to be here now. His previous anger had been replaced once more by sadness, but now as he felt how close Kairi was getting, his hostility was returning.

"I'm sorry Kairi," Sora apologized. "But you're going to need to stay away from me."

He couldn't see her face, but he knew she must have been visibly confused. "What do you mean? I can't even see my hand and inch in front of my face. How am I supposed to find you again?" Sora growled a little and shoved her hand off, his anger now being directed at himself again.

"That's not what I-" He stopped, for in the darkness his ears had just picked up a sound that they had not quite noticed before: the scuffling of many legs over the ground, and the tiny high-pitched squeals of creatures communicating.

Not just any creatures though, spiders.

Sora remembered the size of the spider webs strung between the trees, and with his blindness imagined several very monstrous, very large, and very dangerous female black widow spiders, the very deadliest kind he knew.

He whimpered the word 'spider' and fell to the ground with a soft thump, his eyes opened very wide in fear as the very real possibility of death swooped over his body, giving him a deathly chill that he doubted would ever be gone. He heard Kairi swoon and felt her fall next to him, her breathing even more sporadic than his.

The clacking of great mandibles came now, louder, and wetter with every clack, unseen poisonous saliva dripping from the great maws of the giant spiders. Kairi gave a loud sigh as her consciousness fled. Sora closed his eyes tightly, every sense in his body openly telling him that in this darkness he wouldn't see anything anyway but his mind overruling his senses and declaring that he would not permit himself to see his own death if by some fluke the globe of darkness vanished at the last millisecond.

He suddenly opened his eyes and turned his head towards where he had heard and felt Kairi fall. His heart now overruling his mind and declaring that if he was to die, he'd rather be looking upon the most wonderful person to ever grace his life with her presence. He couldn't see her, but his mind conjured up a picture of Kairi in all her simple loveliness anyway, and he smiled.

"_Sílerë Kírië!_"

Blinding white light suddenly bombarded his senses, his eyesight now momentarily useless in the opposite context, in that there was too much light to see properly with. He heard the slash of a blade cutting into flesh, and the dying high-pitched scream of a giant spider. Then, the sounds and the heat of blasts of fire came, striking home against the easily flammable hairs that covered the arachnids. They screamed in pain and fear, mandibles clacking quickly and erratically. He heard the rushing of many legs along with the crackling flames and after time they faded off into the distance.

He felt a hand touch his shoulder and he opened his eyes, not realizing that his third blindness had been caused by him closing them. He was turned over, and kneeling over him was a woman, dark auburn hair brushing past her cheeks, a small tuft of it out of place and hanging in front of one of her blue eyes. She flicked it back with a wave of her hand, and he noticed now that she was dressed in dazzling armour. In the crook of her arm rested a shining metal pointed helmet, the metal glittering like polished silver, small white wings like those of a swan arching upwards from its sides. A burnished breastplate shone on her chest, the emblem of a white tree embossed within the metal. Just underneath the armour Sora thought he could see the signs of chain mail. A brilliant white fauld covered her upper legs, sweeping down even to just past her knees where it met up with shin armour made of the same material as the helmet and breastplate. Bracers protected her wrists, black gloves covering her hands. The same tree emblem adorned both the bracers and her shin armour, and hard silver boots covered her feet. A blue cape was clasped around her neck, gold trimming along its edges. Light seemed to glow around her, bringing out a golden shine in her skin.

She smiled at him as her arms propped up his shoulders. "You are not well Sora," she said, her voice strikingly similar to Kairi's. "I shall now return you and Kairi to the past." Sora opened his mouth to speak, but she softly placed a finger to his lips. "If there is any advice I can give you it is this," she removed her finger from his lips and slid it down to his neck, lingering on the chain that his pendant was attached to for a second. It then moved towards the thin golden string wrapped around his neck, and pulled on it, drawing his crest up from under his black shirt and letting it lie on his chest, his eyes fixed upon it.

"Remember what this crest means Sora," she said. "Its virtue is an essential part of who you are. Its power is your own power, but you must unlock it. Remember who and what you are."

"And this," she continued, her finger now moving to hover over his left breast. She poked him hard in the spot. "Do not let your mind and fears cloud your judgment. Follow this instead. It hasn't lead you wrong before." Her eyes strayed over to the unconscious body of Kairi and they closed while she sighed. "Follow it, and you will never fail her, no matter what your mind says. Stray from the path your heart lays before your feet, and you will lose her forever."

Sora's eyes were wide in fear before the woman opened her eyes again and looked at him. Her blue eyes shone with light and his vision swooned and his eyes flickered closed, but not before he heard one last word.

"_Therlyenë._"

-A-D-

_Yes, I know that this chapter is a little short, shorter than many I have done, but I felt that it was important that this one was cut shorter rather than continue on in this one._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	7. Return

_Diplomas are not quite over, and I'm awaiting a possible phone call from Detachment or the DND (Department of National Defence) telling me that I'm going to staff at an air cadet summer training center this summer: 7 weeks, at least 60 dollars a day, probably 65 or more, so coming home at the end of the summer with over 3K. Meaning either, a good start on tuition and living costs in Vancouver to attend AIV (Arts Institute of Vancouver) to pursue my goal of becoming a video game designer, or a money for a good desktop or laptop computer._

_Downside to that is, practically no updates during the summer._

_Scratch that, just got a call today, I'm staffing at RCACSTC (Royal Canadian Air Cadet Summer Training Center) Cold Lake, starting this weekend. That's why I'm updating today instead of my customary Sunday. With luck and pressure, I'll have chapter eight up before I leave._

_Disclaimer: After forty six chapters, I'd expect anyone reading this to understand this concept by now._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter VII: Return

"…and then we went to the little island," Ninquemon finished. "I think it'd be best if Sora and Kairi explained the rest of what happened."

"It is enough to say, though," said Naminé, looking sadly at Sora and Kairi's limp forms under the blankets, "that you lost." Ninquemon and Luinmon stayed silent for a second before Luinmon's looked down with closed eyes.

"Yes," she said. Sal's hand went to his forehead.

"I still can't believe this," he said, his brown hair's bangs being tussled by his moving hand.

"I know it'll probably take you a while to get used to it Uncle Sal," Roxas said sympathetically. They had explained everything they could in simplest terms for the family, but even then with the occasional breaks where they had to go into greater depth it had still taken the better part of two hours for the base plotline. And even after that it had still taken a while for Sal to get over the news of his sister's death. Cossex had come in and explained about the attack on the islands, and she and Sal had had some words alone in the hall, ending with Sal coming back in, not quite a smile but at least acceptance on his face unlike the rage he had left with.

"I'm not sure if I will get used to it," Victoria said, shaking her head. The remains and beginnings of fresh tears were in her eyes as she looked at Sora. "My sister-in-law is dead and my nephew has been fighting fearsome monsters and dating a princess?"

"Your _nephews_," King Mickey corrected. "Remember, Roxas is a nephew of yours now as well."

"Why should I accept you as a nephew?" Sade asked, looking suspiciously at Roxas. "You aren't about to go wild and kill everyone while we sleep are you?"

"Sade!" his mother scolded. The boy shrugged it off. Roxas looked at him incredulously.

"Why are you such a pain in the butt?" he asked. Riku snorted.

"Look back into Sora's memories Roxas," he said, staring intently at Sade. "Think back to his eighth birthday party." Roxas and Naminé looked up, each of their faces showing that they were lost in some distant memory.

"It was on Dunash," Roxas began, his mind falling back to Sora's, his, memory. "We were at Uncle Sal's chocobo ranch. You and Sora and Kairi were there, so was Mom, and Tidus, Wakka, a few more of Sora's friends from school, and Selphie so that Kairi wouldn't be the only girl."

"But she wasn't," Naminé added. "Sora's cousin Sikora was with us, as well as Sade, Sal, and Victoria. Sade and Sikora were helping those of us who hadn't ridden before get used to riding chocobos, taking us out for small runs."

"And that's when it happened," Riku broke in. "Sade led me and my chocobo into an area infested with lupines, and as soon as he saw them he bolted, leaving the inexperienced rider, me, alone with a pack of fiends."

"But Uncle Sal and Aunt Victoria rescued you though," Roxas said.

"The damage was done," Riku said, glaring at Sade. "I still don't forgive you for that." Naminé blinked.

"You don't like each other for that?" she asked incredulously. "All because he left you alone when he was scared?"

"It's not my fault he couldn't ride a chocobo," Sade huffed.

"I would have preferred Sikora to take me on a run," Riku said.

"You just like my little sister," Sade snapped.

"Yes I do," Riku replied coolly, "as a friend. She wouldn't have left me out there."

"You could have taken lessons like the rest of them before Sora decided that he wanted to go riding for his eighth birthday," Sade answered. "Then you wouldn't have needed someone to help you guide your frightened chocobo back. Sora was at least smart enough to learn how to ride beforehand."

"And after that party," Naminé said with a smile, "he was able to easily convince Kairi to come riding with him."

"A lot," Roxas added, "if his memory is right." Victoria smiled and gave a slight giggle.

"It is," she said wistfully. "About three months after the party she started coming with Sora to his bi-weekly riding lessons."

"They often went out with Sikora and me," Sade said. "We had a lot of fun those days. About a year ago I started wondering if there was a little bit more to their relationship."

"There is now," Aerith said, looking once more at the comatose teenagers. "They will be alright as soon as they wake up." They were silent for a little while.

"You know Roxas," Sal began cautiously, his fingers rubbing the tip of his nose. "Since you've said that my sister is now gone," his voice choked slightly, but he struggled on, "your aunt and I are now Sora's legal guardians, and I guess yours if you'd like it." Roxas looked up at him, a hopeful expression on his face. Was Sal offering him a home after all of this was over? A real home, where he'd be loved and welcomed every time he stepped through the door?

"We'd understand if you don't want to," Sal added quickly. "After all, you are a knight of Disney Castle and everything, I'm sure you'd have obligations-"

"Are you kidding?" Roxas interrupted, a happy smile coming onto his face. "I'd love to live with you all!" The faces of everyone else into the room grew into warm smiles. "I've never had a real home before," Roxas said, feeling a sting in his eyes and wiping it away. "The Castle that Never Was was never really a home, and even when I was living with Sora on the islands with his, no our mother Anne it didn't feel quite right because I was still a part of him. But now…" he laughed, a loud and boisterous, happy laugh. He leapt off of his chair, Ninquemon bounding onto the bed at the last second, and hugged his uncle, Sal finally smiling and hugging him back.

"We always wanted more kids in the house," he said through his hug. "But after Sikora, we didn't have any more luck."

"I wonder how she'll react to having two more teenage boys living with her," Riku said, smiling.

"She'll make do," Victoria added, patting her hands on her pants. "Goodness knows I'll have to figure out how to feed two more boys."

"Gawrsh if Roxas eats anything like Sora you'll be eaten out of house and home," Goofy added. "Wouldn't you say Donald?"

"Sora's got an even bigger than he does," Mickey said with a little laugh of his. Donald glowered at them.

"Well," Max said while laughing with the others, "with Sora's skill at least it's good eating ahyuk." He froze and turned to look at Riku, who promptly punched him.

"Thanks Riku," he said, examining his jaw.

"No problem," said Riku.

"You see, that's why I don't like you," Sade said. "You're too violent."

"Max asked me to hit him if he ever ahyuk'd again," Riku said. "I was merely doing a favour."

"Gawrsh Maxie," Goofy said, a little hurt creeping into his voice. "Why would you want Riku to do that?" Max cast his eyes downwards.

"I'm not sure," he responded at length. "I had a nightmare once, where I ahyuk'd and suddenly grew into a twenty-foot tall… well you! And I was with Roxanne in the dream and she started screaming and-"

"Dr. Gainsborough," Tron's voice began, breaking into Max's story. "Their mental patterns have experienced a shift. Both Master Sora and Princess Kairi are now exhibiting patterns corresponding to those of normal sleep."

"So now he's just asleep?" Donald asked, his feathered hands rubbing together while a devious grin took his face. The duck began inching towards the now sleeping Sora, his fingers twitching.

"Donald you shouldn't do that," Goofy said, moving quickly towards Donald and throwing his arms around him to prevent him from irritably waking Sora. However Goofy's shoes slipped on the tiled floor and he crashed into Donald instead, landing each of them with an echoing plop onto the now sleeping two with Goofy's added momentum.

Max smacked his head while the others laughed slightly at the moaning duo.

The first thing Sora and Kairi saw when they woke suddenly was the very close white-feathered head of Donald in the case of Sora and the bottom of Goofy's jaw in the case of Kairi. Neither knowing what was going on or where they were or just quite what they were looking at caused the only reaction possible to their conflicted minds.

They yelled, very loudly.

Donald and Goofy started scrambling around on top of the beds in surprise, trying to get off of the startled two and messing up the blankets in the process, causing more laughs to come from the others sitting or standing in the room. Aerith smiled while she giggled and moved out of the room to bring the others back in.

Finally Sora recognized the scrambling pair and a laugh escaped his lips. "Donald! Goofy! What are you two doing here?"

"Well gawrsh Sora," Goofy said as he wrestled his legs out from around Donald's abdomen. "We came to see you."

"See me?" Sora asked. "What for? Wait, where am I?" He looked around and saw Roxas and Naminé sitting in chairs on opposite sides of the two beds that he now realized he was in, Kairi lying down in the bed to his right smiling and giggling at the two patrons of Disney Castle. She glanced at him before looking down at something. Sora looked as well and saw their hands together. His eyes then caught something else under the now partially messed up blankets that only he could see. It was the fact that Kairi's upper chest was covered by nothing more than several tightly wrapped white bandages and her blue crest of Virtue dangling in its tag. His skin tingled, and he realized that apart from a few bandages on his chest and left shoulder, he was dressed in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts and his own crest and pendant.

Sora's face flushed, and so did Kairi's when she realized where his eyes were staring. Their hands parted in the blink of an eye and Kairi's snatched up the heavy blankets, slipping Donald and Goofy off of the bed and onto the ground in a heap. Even the lighter white sheets came to Kairi's call and Sora suddenly found himself snatching for something to cover himself with when he flinched and felt suddenly cold. He turned onto his right shoulder so that he could use both his arms when he saw and felt that there was nothing moving above his sideways vision to snatch at the blankets that Kairi coveted.

He felt himself go limp and placed his hand over his face while a long sigh escaped his lips. "All of that was real?" he asked himself. "And here I was, hoping it was all some kind of dream in a forest."

"A spidery forest," Kairi said fearfully, drawing the blankets up to her nose.

"So did we both have that dream then?" asked Sora, staring up at Kairi as the realization dawned on him.

"What are you talking about Sora?" Roxas asked. "You were both in a coma."

"We were both dreaming of the future or something," he answered.

"The future?" Riku asked. "What kind of future?" Sora shook his head and looked down.

"In some ways, it was good," he answered, "and in others, it was bad."

"How did the dream end?" Kairi asked, shaking her head. "It's getting dimmer, and the last thing I remember is falling down in a globe of darkness with the spiders getting closer."

"A woman showed up," Sora answered, his eyes slowly falling downwards as he spoke. "She cast away the darkness and killed the spiders before sending us back." He didn't mention the words she had spoken to him. His fingers touched his tag and crest lightly, his mind dwelling on her parting words. He heard the arrival of the others in the room, but did not look up until he heard a certain voice calling his name.

"Sora! How's it been spiky?" His head jerked upwards and he looked for the sound of the voice, a very wide smile nearly breaking his face when he saw the fiery red guardian dragon and the hero of China.

"Mulan!" he cried happily. "I thought that you were gone forever when we couldn't reach your world in time to seal the keyhole." She smiled at him before coming closer and wrapping him in a hug.

"Put some damn clothes on Sora," Yuffie scolded, rolling her eyes upwards as Mulan released him from her hug. Sora grimaced and stuck his tongue out at Yuffie just as a white sheet landed overtop of his head.

"It's going to take more than the loss of Shang and my world to keep me from fighting back," Mulan assured him as he untangled himself from the sheet and placed it over himself, covering his near-nakedness. "Just like you, right Sora?" Sora's smile slowly slipped off of his face and he looked back at Kairi, who was beaming at Mulan.

"I've heard so much about you," the princess said, a hand that wasn't holding up the blankets going over her chest, "I'm Kairi." Mulan straightened up and bowed, causing Kairi to pull her head backwards and make a queer face.

"It's an honor princess Kairi," Mulan said, rising from her bow. "I am Fa Mulan, daughter of Fa Zhou."

"Please," Kairi began, her free hand going to her lower lip and her head shaking, "no bowing. I'm not really comfortable with that yet."

"Oh come on Kairi," Naminé said. "It's fun to have people bowing to you."

"I don't really know Naminé," Kairi replied. "I've already decided to just accept it, but I suppose that that's why in the future I just dreamed about-"

"Yes…" Naminé pressed when Kairi stopped. Her twin smiled at her.

"You're Queen," she said with a slight giggle. Naminé squealed in delight and leapt from her chair to hug her sister, forcing Luinmon out of her lap to sit discontentedly on the side of the bed. Kairi's eyes were drawn away from Naminé's bone crushing hug and saw her partner digimon's large brown eyes looking up at her.

"How are you doing Luinmon?" she asked, sitting back down and patting the top of the In-Training level digimon's head.

Sora heard the answer, but he didn't really pay attention anymore as he glanced at Kairi's concealed back and then his non-existent arm again. The uncertainties and insecurities that had plagued him in the future, no in the dream, began to come back. He saw now that he would be unable to protect Kairi anymore, no matter how much he tried she would always be hunted by Maleficent until the witch was defeated.

But he no longer believed that she could ever be beaten. She and her minions were too strong. Nixion alone had beaten Roxas, Naminé and Axel combined, and he had gotten away from him and Bahamut.

_Sora what's wrong?_ Sora's head jerked up as he heard Roxas' voice in his head and looked at him. Roxas' eyes, almost exact duplicates of his own, stared back at him. Roxas gave the slightest of nods to show that they could still communicate on that level and he looked away so as not to be conspicuous.

_I know that something's bothering you,_ Roxas said. _So what is it? Did something happen in the future to upset you? Because it looks like Naminé's enjoying the news that she becomes Queen of Radiant Garden. By the way, what happens to me?_ Sora mentally chuckled slightly.

_You and Naminé are married,_ he replied, _making you a Prince of Radiant Garden, not to mention that title of Knight of Disney Castle that you already carry._

_Score!_ came Roxas' answer.

_And as far as I learned you have two kids, one boy and one girl._ _However,_ Sora began when Roxas started mentally cheering, _Kairi and I have three, an elder daughter, and twin boy and girl._

_Twins, lucky,_ Roxas said. _Just like you and me, and Kairi and Naminé eh?_ Sora looked at Roxas as Kairi began chatting casually with Yuffie.

_Do you want to be twins?_ He asked. Roxas shrugged.

_Couldn't hurt,_ he replied. _I mean, Uncle Sal and Aunt Victoria have already offered to take me in after this is all over._

_They're here?_ Roxas sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

_Look behind me dumbass._ Sora frowned at the comment but finally allowed his eyes to encompass _everyone_ in the room.

"You all right Sora?" Sade asked. Sora put on a brave face and nodded, a tear of happiness rolling down his cheek at the sight of the rest of his family alive and well, even if the sight of his own dried blood on their clothes caused him hurt. But his thoughts betrayed him.

_I ask again, what's wrong?_ Sora slowly ripped his eyes away from his family and looked at Kairi again. She noticed his glance this time and smiled at him before returning to talking with Yuffie, Mulan, Naminé, and Aerith.

Everyone else seemed to have noticed Sora's silence and the way his eyes flickered back and forth with Roxas' though and they watched the pair even as the two remained unaware.

_I can't do this Roxas,_ Sora answered. _I can't take this anymore._

_What are you talking about?_

_I'm going to break up with Kairi._ Roxas' eyes bulged.

_YOU'RE WHAT!?_ Sora looked at him.

_I can't do anything Roxas. I love her more than anyone else, and I haven't been able to protect her as I've promised. I can't be her protector, I can't protect anyone!_

_That's not true,_ Roxas countered. _You've protected plenty of people from harm. You've saved the worlds twice and brought countless people back to their worlds, homes and families. Think of what would have happened to Hollow Bastion if it weren't for you. It would never have been restored to Radiant Garden, and the thousands that were proud to call it their home world would have never returned from the darkness after it fell into Maleficent's hands._

_And that's not all,_ he continued, his tone one of determination. _When you defeated Xehanort's heartless and sealed the door to Kingdom Hearts you brought back a thousand worlds that had lost their hearts to the darkness, and all of the people that hadn't managed to escape to Traverse Town or other worlds, including Destiny Islands and everyone on it. You've protected Radiant Garden itself from countless threats by the heartless and the MCP, and you gave your own life to return Kairi's heart to her, giving life to both Naminé… and me._

_Yeah but I wasn't able to keep either of you out of Xemnas' clutches,_ Sora replied dismally.

_There was nothing you could have done,_ Roxas answered.

_And I couldn't keep Kairi from getting captured by Saïx…_

_Again, nothing you could have done._

_And I wasn't able to prevent the Islands from coming under attack and Mom's death…_

_Do I have to repeat myself here?_ Roxas asked, his telepathic voice becoming angrier. _There was no way you could have possibly foreseen that Maleficent was going to attack them; and nothing you could have done to prevent Mom's-_

_Why didn't King Mickey tell us about her death!?_ Sora asked harshly. _Tell me that Roxas, why didn't he let us know that our parents were dead?_

_Because he knows you better than you think he does,_ Roxas answered. _He knew that if we learned that Maleficent had had her killed, we would have gone rushing to face her head on, and probably lost._

_We might not have though,_ Sora countered. _We might not have lost to her then, when she wasn't as strong as she is now._

_She had both Cossex and Nixion on her side then,_ Roxas pointed out. _Remember how long it took both of them to beat back you and Kairi in the Pride Lands? We still wouldn't have stood a chance. But we will defeat her Sora, we will bring her down. For the good of all the worlds, she will be beaten. There was nothing we could have done to save Mom._

_Yes there was Roxas!_ Sora thought through a scowl.

Kairi and the girls had by now noticed the mental exchange going on between Sora and Roxas, and Kairi and Naminé were now giving each other worried glances.

Roxas folded his arms and sat back in his chair, his eyes boring into Sora's. _Name one thing you could have done._

_I could have stayed,_ Sora thought. _I should have stayed._

_And done what?_ Roxas asked. _Cossex was attacking us at the party if you remember. What would you have done while we were both writhing on the ground in spectral agony? Would you have gritted your teeth and tried to fight it?_

_I don't know,_ Sora thought angrily, propping his back up against the wall as he remembered the pain at the time.

_Or would you have likely been too busy screaming in despair to notice Kairi being abducted, and then get yourself turned back into a heartless?_ Roxas asked, hitting the nail on the head.

_Shut up Roxas,_ Sora mentally snapped. _I don't want to hear it right now._

_Really? _Roxas asked. _And why would you not want to hear the truth that's staring at you right in the face? I'm upset about Mom's death too you know, I have your memories of her as well as my own. All she went through to keep the two of you together after Dad went missing; I loved her just as much as you. I'm just not letting her death get to my head!_

_This has nothing to do with Mom!_

_Then enlighten me,_ Roxas answered snidely. _If you think you know your mind better than I do, then tell me what this is about. Why the hell are you breaking up with Kai? Even after Nam and I almost got killed by Nixion the thought of breaking up with her never crossed my mind, it only brought us closer. What has you in such a tizzy?_

_I've failed everyone Roxas,_ Sora replied. _I won't be of any good anymore in this quest. Maleficent will never be defeated, she's just too powerful. Kairi and I have our wounds to show for that. I'll never be able to even have the false hope of protecting Kairi anymore._

_We. Will. Beat. Her,_ Roxas said, forcing every word to become its own sentence to drive the point home. Sora looked down sadly, and it seemed as if all the fire he had had in his argument with Roxas was replaced with meek defeat. His shoulders sagged, but Roxas continued to stare at him with the same vividness as before.

_I've lost the keyblade Roxas._

Roxas' chair toppled to the ground as the blonde stood in surprise, his face now showing horror as the sudden surge of emotion caused a surge in his gut that made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

"You've what?" Roxas asked, aloud this time.

"What have you two been speaking about Roxas?" King Mickey asked patiently. Sora's hand came to his forehead, and he realized that he was shaking.

"I can't," he whimpered. "It won't come anymore."

"Uh, what won't Sora?" Goofy asked. Roxas' head lowered, and he allowed Twilight Thorn and Oblivion to appear in his hands. Each wielder in turn summoned their blades. Island's Fire from Naminé, Oathkeeper from Kairi, Way to the Dawn from Riku, the Dark Realm's keyblade from King Mickey, and Indomitable from Asterix. As one, everyone looked at Sora, and he sighed and dipped his head into his drawn knees. He could barely keep his balance with the loss of his other arm, but somehow he managed to stay upright as he drew his right hand out in front of them. He clenched his fist several times, each try grasping only air.

"It's over Kairi," he spoke into the stunned and horrified silence. "I can't be with you anymore."

"What?" she asked, the implications of his earlier statement in their future-coma-dream hitting her like a metric tonne of bricks.

"I'm sorry Kairi," Sora said, his eyes averted as he defensively drew the sheet over his head. Riku joined Roxas in standing and they slowly began inching backwards.

"Sora if you know what's good for you, you will lift that sheet above your head again," Kairi said with a strange mix of anger, hurt, and confusion evident in her voice. Riku and Roxas feared the anger part. Ninquemon eyed her cautiously and inched his way closer to Sora's hiding form. Kairi glared daggers at the In-Training digimon, but he would not budge.

"Sora," Naminé began dangerously, her arms folding over her turquoise hospital gown and her keyblade tapping against her side, "explain yourself."

"You want me to explain how this feels?" Sora asked savagely, throwing the sheet off. "You want me to explain how it feels to have everything you think you know ripped away from you and the one person you truly love nearly killed because of your foolishness?" Naminé and Kairi fell back, and each of them looked away from Sora.

"We can't be together anymore Kairi," Sora said. "I've just been bringing you into more danger than you are already in, and I promised I'd keep you safe. I couldn't do that before and I can't do that now. Hades was right, some hero I am."

"What happened to the Sora we knew?" Kairi asked. "What happened to the young man who stoically took every fall in stride as he came back up? What happened to the young man who pulled each of his friends up after every fall of theirs? What happened to the young man whose laugh was infectious even when there was nothing funny? What happened to the young man who kept every last one of us going when it looked like there was no hope?"

"He's gone Kairi," answered Sora. "I can no longer see the light of hope, only the darkness of despair. Maleficent is too powerful for us to beat."

"Then what about this?" asked Kairi again, raising Oathkeeper slightly and looking at it. "What about the promise we made that we'd always be together?"

"I'm sorry about that Kairi," Sora answered. "But maybe that was a promise we shouldn't have made yet."

"Then why did you take that paopu!?" Kairi practically screamed in agony. She slapped Sora, but he remained unflinching unlike the last time she had done so. Eyes widened in shock and amazement at the two.

"I still want you in my life Kairi," Sora said, not even noticing the red mark on his cheek. "But I can't get that close to you again. Every time I do, someone comes along and hurts you, and I can't stop them! I'm sorry, but this is the way it has to be. I can't take that pain."

No one quite knew how to digest the news, but, after Kairi began sobbing and muttering under her breath, life seemed to return to them.

"Kairi," Aerith said kindly, "you're more or less healed. You and Naminé have leave to go to the castle."

"Come on sis," Naminé said, one hand on Kairi's shoulder. "I'll take you to the room I'm in before we go. We'll pick up your things there." Kairi gave a very weak nod and rose, wrapping the warm blankets around her. Luinmon quietly bounded after them. Yuffie, Mulan, and Tom left just behind them as an escort while Aerith and Merlin went to fetch and mend Kairi's clothes. This left Sora in the room with the remainder of the males plus Cossex and his aunt, Victoria.

"Way to put your foot in your mouth Sora," Riku sighed, dismissing Way to the Dawn when he realized he was still holding it. The other keyblades quickly vanished in white shimmers while everyone looked at the former keyblade master's haggard appearance and bloodshot eyes.

"Very smooth Roxas," Axel said. "You could have done that one better." Neither Sora nor Roxas snapped back at him.

"Oh phish posh," Stewie declared, waving his hand in front of his overly large head. "This is _sooo_ not as bad as those cheap soap operas that Meg keeps crying about."

"Daisy's going to have a huge fit when she finds out," Donald wailed.

"Not only Daisy," Roxas realized. "Your hospitalization made the news. As soon as Selphie and Olette show up from Twilight Town, your life is forfeit bro."

"Great," Sora muttered. "The hopeless romantic escaped. This bit of gossip may be too big for her though and her head will explode."

"And every princess of heart will come swooping down on you like a tide," Sade said, piecing together as much as he could to try and make a good line.

"If they all swooped down on Maleficent with as much fury as they will on me, then maybe there might be the very slightest of chances that we'll win," Sora replied. "But I don't think so. Count me out guys, I'm done."

"No you're no-" Donald began, but a white gloved hand on his shoulder stopped the enraged duck. The court magician looked up at the captain of the knights and stopped with a pronounced sigh.

"Huddle," Riku said, moving into the hallway. Sora watched everyone leave his side except for Ninquemon, who snuggled up close to him as the boy rested on the bed. Sora wrapped his remaining arm around his body and squeezed slightly, allowing tears to fall.

"Oh what do I do Mom?" he asked himself in barely a whisper. "Where do I go? What do I do now?"

-A-D-

Everyone else waited in the hall for Roxas, Kairi and Naminé to come back with the rest of the group, occasionally glancing inside the room at the wreck of once had been their greatest hope. When Sora was with them, smiling in that way that he did, each one of them that had fought alongside him felt invincible. Now he had robbed himself of that smile over time, through traveling almost alone and constantly under threat and a serious break to his winning streak.

The others arrived, Naminé back in her steel-blue ensemble, Roxas in his normal attire, and Kairi dressed once more in the white shirt, skirt and boots that she had come in, only now whole with no bloodstains. She didn't look much better than when she had left the room, and the effort of keeping the tears at bay wrenched the hearts of everyone who looked at her. Aerith went to Kairi and wrapped her in a great hug.

"Go to the castle Kairi," she said. "Go and have a good long cry. We'll come by later. Tom, show her the way."

"Alright Doctor," Tom said, his thick cockney accent sounding clear as a bell in their silence as he bowed in front of Kairi. "This way milady." Kairi made no move to show that she had seen the bow he gave her.

"I'll be along soon sis," Naminé said, giving Kairi a quick hug. Kairi sniffed, and nodded her head. She bent down slightly and let Luinmon hop somberly into her arms. The little digimon gave her a faint smile and the corners of Kairi's mouth twitched before she followed Tom out of the hospital.

"Now what do we do?" Axel asked as soon as he was certain that Kairi was clearly out of earshot. Eyes swiveled to either King Mickey or Leon, neither of them begrudging the decision that they should come up with a solution.

"He's grown so much," Leon said, glancing back at Sora. "He's grown so much in such a short amount of time that he's forgotten who he was and who he is. Has Sora ever had to accept defeat before?"

"There was one time," Riku answered. "When his Dad became lost to the sea, Sora was very sullen and removed for some months. He came out of it of course, but it took him a long time to figure out that his Dad's apparent death wasn't his fault and that there had been nothing he could have done about it."

"You mean he isn't dead?" Sal asked in genuine surprise.

"No," Max said. "He's bound by a curse to serve aboard the _Flying Dutchman_ for a hundred years before he is allowed to move on."

"He's caught in between," Naminé continued. "Not quite mortal and not quite dead. In a way you could say that he is immortal, for no crewman of the _Dutchman_ that we've faced could be killed. Except for Davy Jones, but we never got the opportunity to stab his still beating heart." Victoria's eyelids slid half closed as she remembered something.

"The _Dutchman_ must always have a captain," she said in a husky voice, "the heart of the captain is the heart of the ship, and the _Flying Dutchman_ must always have a heart. A part of the ship, a part of the crew. If Jones be slain, he who slays him must take his place." She stopped and opened her eyes again. Victoria glanced around, a faint blush on her cheeks. "I'm sorry, I don't remember any more."

"Then it's a good thing you didn't kill Davy Jones," Goofy said.

"But what about Sora?" Donald asked. "What does this have to do with Sora?"

"Right now nothing," Roxas answered. "But Sora's feeling the same way about Mom now as he thought about Dad. And it's not only Mom, he's disappointed and doubting himself for every failure of his on this journey. Despite everything Kairi says to him, despite anything any of us say to him, Sora's lost all confidence in himself to protect those he loves."

"Hey Leon!" a deep and somewhat growly voice suddenly spoke. "I told you we'd make it!" Roxas drew his eyes away from their immediate group and towards the newcomers. There were four, two males and two females. One of the men was a large and muscled, a white vest and light chain shirt on his dark skin. Black pants worked their way past his brown boots and up his thick legs. Short black hair was cropped close to his head, and his left earlobe was pierced by a small silver ring. On his left arm there was a red tattoo in a flaring pattern around a circle. His right arm had a white sleeve stretching around his upper arm and around the elbow, but a few inches below the elbow the sleeve ended to showcase a gleaming metal forearm and hand. The other man had long black hair flowing out to the side of his head, a thick red headband set upon his forehead just above his red irises. A long red cloak was draped around his shoulders, metal clasps around the neck and upper chest. Underneath his cloak he was garbed entirely in black, bronze coloured, pointed, metal boots on his feet. His right arm was normal, but his left was a golden claw.

Of the two women Roxas immediately recognized Tifa Lockhart, her black sleeveless shirt, pants, skirt, and apron a dead giveaway alongside her long and very dark brown hair. Black centered sneakers with a white toe on her feet. The other woman was a mystery to him. Navy high-heels were on her slender feet, navy rings around the top of her ankles and attached to the shoe by a narrow strip of navy material that ran up the center of her foot. Her long and shapely legs were left bare until a strip of purple fabric along her calf, its thicker end hanging further away from her right hip than the left's narrow end and her left hip. A small blue 'X' fastened to the right side of the strip kept it attached to the black and purple miniskirt she wore. The six inches between the top of her skirt and bottom of her shirt were bare, until said top. Its right half was of navy blue, and the left of purple, ending three-fifths of the way up her bosom and attached around her neck by blue straps in the same 'X' pattern. An open white lab coat rested easily on her shoulders, her ginger-like brown hair's tips reaching her clear neckline. One blue eye looked out at Roxas with intrigue while a mechanical arm protruded from her left shoulder.

"Barret," Leon said, nodding his head at each one in turn, "Vincent, Shalua, Tifa, good to see you all again."

"You'd better have kept good care of her Barret," Cid growled. The dark man held up his hands in defence.

"Don't worry Cid your bird's fine," he said. "Nothing touched the _Shera_'s paintjob. How's my little Marlene doing?"

"Little tyke's doing alright," Cid answered. "She's been keeping me up each night, wanting me to tell her stories of her daddy."

"Many people have now left Traverse Town for Radiant Garden," said the one with red eyes, Vincent, in a slightly creepy tone of voice, looking at Leon. "But more are arriving once more, as more worlds vanish into the darkness."

"We've been working on a solution to the problem," Shalua said, looking at Leon now as her voice carried the young, but dignified air of a scientist. "But so far we've only been able to come to the conclusion that the power of the keyblade to lock the hearts of worlds is our only hope."

"Well we have a slight problem with that," Axel said.

"And the problem is?" Vincent asked.

"The kid can't summon the keyblade anymore," Cid said, jerking his head towards the room where Sora was resting.

"You're joking," Tifa said in shock, glancing through the doorway at the fallen keyblade master.

"We're not, Tifa," Leon said. "Sora's lost his self confidence and conviction that he can be a hero and save the worlds. And in so doing, he's lost his ability to summon the keyblade."

"Sounds like someone else we know," Tifa said, looking around at the others. Yuffie examined her nails with an apparent lack of interest.

"Don't worry Tifa," she said. "We'll think of a plan to get Sora's confidence back. You know, both he and Cloud can be a pain in the ass sometimes." Tifa just smiled and shook her head slowly.

"Oh yes," Yuffie added, looking up from her nails. "He's also lost his left arm; we're thinking that that's another cause for his thick-headedness. So Roxas and Naminé are going to go out and look for someone who can make him a good and durable one, one that could pound through his own head if he tried." Roxas and Naminé looked at Yuffie in incredulity.

"We are?" Roxas asked.

"You are now," Yuffie answered with a giggle. Roxas moved towards her, but she vanished in a puff of black smoke before appearing once more atop his shoulders. She giggled and twitched her booted feet, and Roxas buckled and fell to the ground.

"Yes, you are," she reiterated, the smile on her face infectious enough to cause everyone else to laugh, even Roxas as he lay groaning on the floor.

"If it's for the keyblade master, he deserves the best," Shalua said. "I learned everything I know about mechanical arms from the Rockbells, on the world of Amestris in the town of Resembool. They're the ones to go to." Roxas and Naminé rubbed the back of their heads.

"Um, okay," Roxas said as Yuffie got off of him and he got onto his feet.

"But who's going to comfort Kairi then?" Naminé asked. "I told her I'd be along to see her."

"Comfort Kairi?" Tifa asked. "Why is that?" Yuffie sighed, and everyone else sighed with her.

"You know that I just said that Sora was a pain in the ass," she said. Tifa nodded. "Well he's broken up with her."

"That's so sad," Tifa said, her head falling down slightly. King Mickey rubbed his chin slightly before his ears perked up and he snapped his fingers.

"I know just what to do," he declared.

"What is it Your Majesty?" Goofy asked.

"Whelp, as we know, both Sora and Kairi are emotionally unstable at the moment. It would probably be best if we split into three teams. Roxas, Naminé, and Cid will leave Radiant Garden for this world of Amestris to find someone who can make an arm for Sora. If they go on the _Shera_ they won't be noticed as easily as if they left on Roxas' ship. Then the other two teams will be gender specific. The girls will all go and try to comfort Kairi and let her know about how Sora's feeling-"

"You mean how he's acting like a blockhead," Yuffie said bluntly.

"While the rest of us guys tell him that he's a blockhead," Axel finished, clapping his hands together. "It's perfect! Do I get to burn him if he isn't responding well to his treatments?"

"No," Mushu said, pointing his thumb at himself. "I'll be the one to burn him."

"I could zap him with a lightning bolt," Donald muttered, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

"No," Riku said. "We don't need to torture him physically." At his words the hopeful expressions on Axel, Mushu, and Donald's faces dropped. "All we need to do is get his confidence back."

"And how do we do that?" Mushu asked. "Drop him off by himself to survive on some random world while making sure that there's someone there to watch over him and make sure he doesn't die?" Everyone slowly looked at Mushu in interest. "What?"

"I'm going to go to Dunash with the chocobos and bring Sikora back here," Victoria said, slinking away from the group. "Kairi would probably like to see her again."

"I'll take you through a corridor," Cossex added, moving away.

"Make sure you bring back a couple of sets of clean clothes for the rest of us honey," Sal called after her.

"So where are we staying?" Sade asked, glaring at Riku.

"Not with me," Riku answered, moving out of the way with Yuffie.

"Come on Rik," she said with a playful wink. "You can stay at my place again like last time."

"Sure thing Yuf," he said, smiling at her.

"Wait! Come back here, I'll go with you!" Stewie quickly yelled, pattering his feet after them. Riku and Yuffie stopped and glanced at him before looking at each other.

"What do we do with him?" Riku whispered.

"I say we ditch him," Yuffie answered. Riku shook his head.

"Nah, too risky. We need to think of someplace where we can keep him."

"What the devil are you talking about?" Stewie asked, his height and their lowered voices keeping him from hearing a word.

"I know!" Yuffie said. "We put him back in the charm. It's foolproof!"

"He already kept us from doing that before," Riku reminded her.

"He knew it was coming before," she answered, pushing her finger out triumphantly through a smile.

"Hey Stewie," said Riku, loudly enough for the toddler to hear him.

"Hm, yes?"

"Catch!" In a fluid motion Riku pulled the silver charm from his pocket and flung it at Stewie.

"What the deuce?" Stewie asked, catching the charm an instant before realizing it was too late. There was a bright flash of light and all that remained of Stewart Gilligan Griffin was the charm sitting on the ground. Riku picked it up and glared at it.

"You aren't coming out again unless you learn to behave," Yuffie spoke, her voice softening and hardening as she reprimanded the charm in Riku's hand. He grunted slightly and pocketed it again before a smirk made its way onto his face. Yuffie's hand slid into his and they began walking out of the hospital at last.

"See you soon Roxas," he said over his shoulder. "Don't lose your own arm now."

"Ha ha," said the teenager, "very funny Riku."

"It's to the castle for us then Roxas," Naminé said. "And we'll need to wake up bright and early if we're leaving in the morning for this world." Roxas rolled his eyes.

"Yes dear," he muttered quietly to himself as he followed Naminé.

"We'll come with you," Sal said, falling in step behind Roxas. "I'd like to see the place where my new nephew's been living." Sade quickly moved behind his father and followed them out.

"I have a few extra beds in my house," Merlin said, looking towards Donald, Goofy, and Max. "What do you say boys, ready to turn in for the night?"

"Sure thing Merlin," Donald said, bowing deeply for a moment.

"Never slept at a wizard's place before," Max said, "But, there's been a lot of firsts I've been having on this journey." They left.

"I'm going to go and think of some things we can do to help cheer Kairi up," Mulan said, turning away.

"We'll help you," Tifa said as Aerith and Shalua followed her, Mushu, and Cricky. "I think they opened up a hot spring a little before I left a few weeks ago."

"I'll go check on Marlene," said Barret, moving to leave as well. "I can't wait to see her smiling face again."

"Where can I buy a phone?" Vincent asked as he left with Leon. This left King Mickey and Axel alone in the hallway with Cid, Asterix, Obelix, and Dogmatix.

"Have any idea where you're sending the kid off to Yer Majesty?" Cid asked, twitching his toothpick around between his teeth.

"I'm not sure," Mickey answered. "I don't want to send him out yet with only one arm. I think it'd be best if he was at least physically in perfect health if not mentally."

"Great," Axel said sarcastically. "You make it sound like we have a nut on that bed instead of a hero whose mind has gone bonkers."

"You sure could have put that a lot better," Cid said, shaking his head as he wandered off.

"I wonder if there's a place that sells wild boar around here somewhere," Obelix wondered, touching the tip of his chin with a pudgy finger.

"Hey, I know a great all you can eat buffet place around here," Axel said, slapping his hand onto the massive Gaul's shoulder. "Plenty of pork dishes there, got it memorized?" Obelix smacked his lips greedily as his hands came together. Dogmatix gave a hopeful bark and bounded off after the two, pausing only long enough outside of the hospital doors for Obelix to pick up his menhir.

Asterix and King Mickey looked at each other.

"It's sure been a while Your Majesty," Asterix said out of the blue. King Mickey nodded.

"It sure has Wielder Asterix," he agreed. There was a long pause, in which they exchanged glances with each other a couple of times.

"You want to go get a coffee?" Mickey asked.

"Yeah. A coffee sounds really good right now."

-A-D-

_And that's the end of that. Yell your heads off in frustration, if you please._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	8. Consoling

_Roxas: You're an idiot Sora._

_Sora: Shut up._

_Riku: Does anyone know where we're dropping him off?_

_Shire: I do, but the experience won't be pretty, for a while._

_Sora: Shut up._

_Shire: (Rolls eyes) Who wants to do it this time?_

_(Puff of black smoke in which Yuffie appears, snatching the cue card from Shire's hand.)_

_Yuffie: I'll do it! Ahem, Shire Folk does not in any way, shape, or form, own the rights to Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, FMA, or anything else he uses that people could possibly immediately identify as not being his. (Looks at the card with incredulity) Who writes this stuff?_

_Shire: Keep reading Yuffie._

_Yuffie: (Looks at the card again) Shire Folk also wishes to let it be known that he would like anyone writing a review, sending him a PM, or writing a post in the forum to not write like they just ate and or snorted a dozen Pixie Stix, and to at least proofread their message to avoid horrible spelling and grammar mistakes. He takes the time to avoid them as much as possible in his writing, and expects you to as well. (Looks up at Shire) Sheesh! Not asking for much are you?_

_Shire: I've gone along with it for over a year, my patience has finally run out. And I'm gettig a little antsy before I leave for Cold Lake tomorrow, June 28/2008._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter VIII: Consoling

Tom led Kairi and Luinmon into the castle's entrance chamber, the great iron-wrought gates and mighty oaken doors guarding the front of the majestic rebuilt fortress and seat of power of Radiant Garden opening for them as swiftly as a sea-borne wind, and as softly as a mouse's light scampering through the grass. The entrance hall was brightly lit by a glittering silver chandelier from above, its polished white stone floors reflecting the light of dancing flames from pedestals on the sides. Brightly woven banners hung from the ceiling, depicting the emblem of a circular and shining platinum shield, a floral pattern stitched around the shield's edges. Far in front of Kairi and Tom there was a wide stairway of about twelve steps, leading on to a platform with four other passages (two on each side with one of those on each wing) and a wide double-door in the center of the platform. A fountain of a golden mermaid lying on a rock, her tail arched back with water curving out of it before breaking upon the tresses of her hair, was set at the base in the middle of the stairs, causing them to wind around the fountain in a circle. To Kairi's left and right there was another passageway each, but where they led, Kairi couldn't tell.

Two figures greeted them inside the entrance chamber upon their arrival, a man and a woman. The man was tall and lean, black hair riddled with flecks of gray circling around his bald head in an open crescent. A short and thick grey beard grew upon his face from ear to ear, sloping down and avoiding the chasm between his lip and nose. His good-natured brown eyes were a little closer together than is usual, but there was a happy sparkle in them. He wore a crisp and clean black suit with tailcoat, a shirt of white under the jacket and black shoes with the black mirror effect gleaming off the toe peeking out from under his ironed and creased pants. The woman was shorter, about the young princess' height, but with round rosy cheeks and a little bit plump. She nearly danced as she rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet as they sat comfortably in supple brown sandals. Her brown hair was long and frizzy, and her grey eyes looked kindly at the young princess from behind a very slightly pointed nose. She wore a long brown skirt to her ankles, a white blouse for a top with a sleeveless grey vest. On both the man's coat and the woman's vest there was a badge, bearing the shield emblem over a dark blue background. To both, Kairi felt like they were familiar somehow. The man bowed in front of Kairi and the woman curtsied.

"It fills my heart with joy to see you again milady Kairi," said the man. "I hardly recognize you now, it has been so long."

"You have grown so beautiful," the woman added. "If only the Queen Mother were alive to see you now, I am sure she would be so proud." Kairi nodded her head slowly.

"Thank you," she said cautiously, trying very hard to forget what had just happened in the hospital and remember who these two people standing in front of her were.

"Kairi, who are they?" Luinmon asked from within Kairi's arms. The man raised his head slightly and looked to Kairi's left.

"Tom, you may leave us." Tom nodded and, to Kairi's great surprise, vanished into thin air. The woman bounced slightly on her feet and her head turned away.

"I'll never get used to that boy doing that," she said.

"It's alright He-"

"Helia!" Kairi finished for the man, who she now remembered to be the head servant. Her face was ecstatic as she rushed at the woman and hugged her with one arm, the other holding onto Luinmon. The woman looked surprised for a moment, before smiling and hugging Kairi back. Kairi released her from the hug and looked towards the man, who was pointing at himself hopefully. Kairi smiled wider and hugged him as well. "Kensworth."

"Oh Kairi," Helia said. "It has been a long time."

"Nearly ten years," Kensworth said as he released Kairi and held her at arm's length, a slight tear forming in the corner of his eye. "Nearly ten years since we've served the family, and with Naminé's arrival it's bringing everything back." He wiped the tear away with his sleeve.

"Well let's get a look at you now," he said, looking her over critically. Kairi suddenly felt very self conscious, and shuffled her feet and fiddled a little with her hair. She needn't have worried though, for after a few moments Kensworth smiled again. "You look splendid Kairi," he announced, "every bit as beautiful as the little girl we remembered. And who is this?"

"I'm Luinmon," the little digimon said, looking up at Kensworth and Helia. "I'm Kairi's digimon partner. Digimon," Luinmon continued at their blank expressions, "digital monsters."

Kairi smiled at Luinmon and rubbed the top of her head affectionately. "Not quite the same now though Kensworth," Kairi said. "I've grown, in more ways than one."

"Oh yes," Helia said. "You are a wielder of the keyblade now, aren't you?" Kairi nodded her head, and the mention of the keyblade brought her thoughts back to the boy who had been the keyblade master. Helia noticed her body beginning to shake and quickly moved in to support her before the poor girl.

"Lady Kairi," Kensworth said quickly, taking a step towards her.

"It's alright Kensworth," Kairi said, keeping an arm on Helia's shoulder. "I just need to go to my room and… have a cry." Helia nodded and led Kairi away with Luinmon. Small memories started coming back to Kairi concerning the castle's interior and passageways as she began walking up the central flight of stairs. She didn't wait for Helia's guiding arm before she turned to the far right corridor and began walking down it. Helia nodded approvingly of Kairi's decision to go down that corridor and continued leading her onwards, past numerous doors and shining suits of armour upon pedestals. Large glass windows peeked their way through the stonework, silver slivers of light filtering in from the quarter moon.

Kairi stopped midway through the corridor, her memory now failing her. "Uh… I'm lost now." Helia smiled and pushed open a door just to their left, revealing a spiraling staircase set inside the stonework. "Oh."

Helia led her up to the third level and out of the corresponding door into a brightly lit passageway. Statues and busts lined the walls in between paintings and tapestries. Kairi counted many doors on the side they just exited from, many glass windows embedded in the eight-foot thick outer wall, and the corridor they stood in was long and wide, its white floors polished to a mirror finish and covered in the middle by a stripe of posh purple carpet. Kairi felt Helia's hand slide off of her arm as the girl took a few steps forward, the crisp sound of her boots on the stone fading as she stepped onto the carpet and gazed out at the quarter moon. Its light of pearl shone upon her already brightly lit face as she looked at it and the surrounding stars, one of her fingers being drawn unconsciously to tap on the crest that lay concealed beneath her shirt.

Kairi turned away now from the moon and night sky, to look now at one of the paintings next to a door. It was of an island, in the middle of a vast ocean. A great mountain rose over the tops of the trees in the island's center, smooth and round slopes making it more of a hill than a mountain. Palm and coconut trees riddled the area near its white shores, and the mountain's slopes were covered by a dense and leafy jungle.

"I remember this," she said aloud, gazing at the painting with interest. Helia looked at the painting now.

"You and your brother used to look often at that painting," she said. Kairi quickly looked at Helia.

"My brother?" she asked. Helia nodded.

"Yes, your brother." Kairi looked back at the painting again. The painting stirred up long forgotten memories, images that she thought had been erased from her mind long ago. She remembered thinking as to what it would be like to live on a tropical island. Kairi smiled, now knowing just what it is like to live on a tropical paradise for almost the last decade. But, Helia had said that she used to debate the idea with her brother. A shadowy form appeared in her memory, standing next to her, but as to a face or a name…

"I can't remember," she said sadly after a time. The memory was eluding her, just as the memory of Sora had eluded her when Naminé had been working on his memories.

Kairi shoved the thought of Sora out of her mind. She wanted to remember her brother now, not the boy who'd just betrayed her.

"What was his name?" Kairi asked, looking at Helia. She looked slightly to Kairi's side, her eyes beginning to glaze over as she steeped herself in her memories.

"Your brother was the Crown Prince Raifeor," said Helia. "He was two years older than you, which would make him eighteen now if he were still alive."

"Still alive?" Kairi asked. "What happened to him? What happened to Mother and Father too for that matter?" Helia's shoulders drooped and her eyes dropped away. It took her a while to begin speaking, and in that time Kairi saw images flash in her mind. A young boy with medium length blonde hair, and sparkling blue eyes over a bright smile was laughing on the shoulders of a large man, a many pointed crown over his golden head. The boy's blue robe whirled around as the man bucked and snorted like a chocobo. The man's beard was trimmed, only about an inch of golden hair covering his jaw. A vibrant purple cloak was around the man's shoulders while he wore a clean white shirt and black pants. His shirt was only partially buttoned up, thick brown hair exposed over his great, laughing chest. Then of a woman standing somewhat behind them, a plait of long red hair gracefully braided behind her head until it reached an inch below her shoulder blades. Her blue eyes warmly watched the man and boy at play. A red robe was set upon her shoulders, wrapping her slender body in its warmth as a silver crown sat upon her head. One of her hands clasped the tiny hand of the child next to her, standing only with her head up to the woman' navel. The little girl's head was covered in vibrant crimson hair, and she had on a light pink night-gown. A finger was stuck in the corner of her smiling mouth as her eyes playfully observed her father and brother, wanting to join in on the fun. Evidently the family had just woken up, and was having some early-morning, pre-breakfast fun.

"About ten years ago, they were all killed in an attack on the castle by a masterful assassin," Helia said at last. "He single-handedly killed the entire Royal Bodyguard and your father, King Raithen. Your Mother Queen Keila was able to spirit you away to their advisor Ansem before she died. A meteor shower began when she fell, and that's when Ansem was able to get you out of the Garden to safety."

"My entire family died in one night?" Kairi asked, horrified.

"That's awful Kairi," Luinmon said sympathetically. Kairi buried her face in Luinmon's body as she still held onto the little digimon. The memory she'd just remembered, of a time that she was sure she'd forgotten, had been so bright and cheerful. She had been that little girl, and that boy upon the King's, no, her father's shoulders had been her older brother. And her mother had been so beautiful. It was too much to believe that the loved ones she'd just remembered were dead and gone.

She didn't even notice when she started to cry, but Helia tenderly put a hand on her shoulder and led Kairi through a nearby door into a bedroom, bedecked with pink. Kairi didn't notice the colours or furnishings. She simply laid her eyes on the bed and its lush pillows and let Luinmon go before she dropped onto the bed and sunk her face into one of those soft cushions.

She sobbed her heart out that night, letting everything that had welled up wash out once more in the form of her tears. Sora, her family, Maleficent, what she'd done, Sora, the spiders, the past, Sora. She only cried harder when Naminé came in later and drew her into a long, loving hug. Eventually she fell asleep that way, no more tears to help ease her stinging eyes.

-A-D-

Kairi awoke in the morning, her dried tears still stinging her eyes and the pillow her head rested against. She found that a warm and thick red blanket had been draped over her during the night, and a teddy bear had managed to worm its way into the crook of her arm. She stretched languidly, yawned, rather loudly, and rubbed her eyes, trying to remember what it was that had happened the previous night.

"Glad to see that you're finally awake Kairi." The girl turned her head at the voice and saw Naminé standing nearby the bed. She was just in the middle of doing the golden buckle up of her pink belt as it wrapped around her white shorts, her top still draped over a nearby chair while she stood in a lacy blue bra.

"How long have you been up Naminé?" Kairi tiredly asked the still-dressing princess.

"About an hour and a half," Naminé said, moving towards the middle mirror of a large dresser-desk and fiddling with a purple velvet box. "It's a quarter to ten you know."

"You've been up for that long and you aren't dressed yet?" Kairi asked, somewhat of a giggle in her voice.

"No, I was busy eating," Naminé replied, taking something out of the box. "Helia's a damn good cook."

"She should be," Kairi said, hearing the sounds of thundering footsteps outside the door as someone raced down the hall. "After all she _is_ the head of the kitchen staff. Wait, you were downstairs dressed like that?"

"Oh relax Kai," said Naminé, her hands now moving towards her ears. "I wore a robe while I was eating. And Roxas wasn't down there either so there was no harm done."

"And it was really good too," said another voice. Kairi looked away from Naminé and saw Menelmon, gracefully fluttering off of the top of the four-poster bed Kairi was still lying down in.

"She digivolved during breakfast with us," Naminé said, turning around and leaning back on the dresser. A silver circular stud was now set within each earlobe. "She sure gave all of us a fright when that happened."

"The first time she digivolved it amazed me as well," Kairi said, sitting up and putting her hand on top of Menelmon's small head and rubbing it in a circle. Menelmon cooed slightly in pleasure.

"So you remember the castle layout then?" Naminé asked.

"Huh?" Kairi asked, still rubbing Menelmon's head.

"You said 'downstairs'," Naminé pointed out. "So you remember where the dining room is?"

"Second floor," Kairi said without thinking, "east wing, just past the painting of the lighthouse on the rock in the dead of night." She then stopped and blinked. Kairi looked at Naminé. "How did I know that? I've been remembering all of these images and people, but shouldn't my memories have been erased?"

"Obviously Ansem didn't do as good a job as he thought he did," Naminé replied with a sigh. "The same memories have been appearing in my mind ever since I came to the castle. I'd walk down a hall, and all of a sudden I'd get a phantom flash of mother or father, or-"

"Raifeor?" Kairi asked quietly. Naminé nodded. "I had a flash last night before you arrived, of us all on the second floor in front of the dining room one morning. Raifeor was riding Dad like a chocobo."

"And Mom was holding your hand," Naminé said with a slight smile. "I've had that one too. She looks so much like you do."

"And you," Kairi added, propping her elbows back on the bed with one hand still absently stroking Menelmon's head. "Except you got Dad's blonde hair when you came into being. Wait, when did you get your ears pierced?" Naminé smirked and raised her hands towards her ears and their shiny studs.

"Just a few days ago actually," she replied. "Aerith took me out of hospital get them done. You like?"

Kairi nodded and shook her head at the same time. "Yeah, but I'm not going to get my ears done."

"Why not? You'd look good with pierced ears." Kairi raised her head towards the red canopy of her bed.

"I've been in enough pain," she said. "I'd rather not inflict any upon myself."

"It only hurts for about a half an hour," Naminé said, moving over to sit next to Kairi on the bed. "But I think we need to talk about another pain right now."

"Hm?" Kairi looked at Naminé as the girl leaned her back against one of the wooden posts of the bed.

"Sora," Naminé said bluntly. Kairi's expression turned into a snarl.

"I don't want to talk about _him_!" she snapped.

"Of course you don't," Naminé quickly answered. "But we're going to."

"Why?" Kairi growled.

"Because right now he's being a stupid idiot," Naminé said. "And it's not his fault."

"Naminé," Kairi began, "he broke up with me, remember? How is that not his fault?"

"Because he's a guy Kairi," Naminé said with a smile. "They don't understand _anything_!" She stressed the word with an exasperated giggle and Kairi gave a faint smile. "Just a few days ago even, Roxas didn't defend me from Axel when he found out that I had been the one to write a note the caused him to hit on Larxene for the final time. She gave Axel a nasty scar on his ass for that. Anyway, Roxas was clueless as to why I was upset with him."

"Sounds like him," Kairi snorted. Footsteps sounded outside in the hall again, this time in the opposite direction.

"Exactly my point," Naminé pressed, not paying the noises any attention. "Guys don't know anything about how we girls feel. Right now Sora's an emo prick because he's lost his arm, his mother, and the keyblade all in one go. But he hasn't lost the keyblade at all, he's just lost confidence in himself, and that's caused the keyblade's disappearance. It was the same thing when Riku took the keyblade from him when he arrived in Hollow Bastion to save you. He's feeling helpless again and feels like he's unable to protect you, and its making him lost and confused and angry at himself and everything around him."

"But I don't want him to be my protector," Kairi said vehemently. "I've already told him I want to fight alongside him, not behind him! Although," Kairi slowed and her eyes gained a devious twinkle, completely comfortable with the present company, "being behind him has its benefits."

"Nice ass?" Naminé asked with a smirk, "or do you like watching him work up a sweat all to keep you safe?" When Kairi giggled in response Naminé sighed. "Well the message you gave him didn't penetrate that far into his thick skull," Naminé sighed. "But don't worry. We've got a plan to set his head on straight."

"Does it involve me knocking it off and putting it back on?" Kairi asked hopefully. Naminé laughed and shook her head.

"No, but Axel and Mushu threatened to barbeque him if he wouldn't cooperate. Roxas, Cid, and I are leaving to find a mechanic who can make Sora another arm, and then I believe we're shipping him off to another world so he can gain his confidence again. He's probably going to need it more than ever after whatever it was you all did yesterday." Kairi looked somberly downwards and Naminé placed a hand to her chin, forcing her to look back into her eyes.

"I don't want to hear about what you two did yesterday," Naminé said. "Put that out of your mind and get your own confidence and drive back. We have special plans for you just as we do for Sora." Kairi looked nervously at the smile that developed on Naminé's face. She was being a lot more forward, and yet, mysterious than usual. Maybe it had something to do with becoming whole, but Naminé seemed to really enjoy living life.

"What sort of plans?" Kairi asked. Naminé gave her a gentle and soft kiss on the cheek before pulling back with a wide smile.

"Have fun Kai," she said, one hand grabbing at her shirt as it lay draped over the chair. She donned it, pulling the front over her bosom and doing up the snaps of the ring around the back of her neck.

"Have fun?" Kairi asked. "What kind of plan is that?" Naminé bounced and sat back down on the bed next to Kairi, carefully avoiding Menelmon and the teddy bear.

"Eat some chocolate, and enjoy your time without the guys," Naminé clarified. "They'll all be sticking around Sora, trying to coax him into getting out of his pit of pity. In the meantime, Mulan, Aerith, Tifa, Shalua Rui, you haven't met her yet by the way, Cossex, Yuffie, Victoria, Sora's cousin Sikora, Menelmon," she gave the digimon an appreciative nod, "and probably any one of our girlfriends from across the worlds who show up will all be here for you. I think Tifa mentioned something about a hot spring. Oh, and you could really stand to take a shower. I may not know exactly what you were doing, but you stink like seawater and a gallon of sweat."

It took Kairi a few moments to register all of what Naminé had just said. "Sikora's here?"

"Yeah, she came in last night when Victoria returned from Destiny Islands with some more sets of clothes for herself, Sal, and Sade. That's another thing you can do, you can go shopping!"

Kairi's eyes brightened at the mention of her favourite hobby. She shook her head though; Sora's relatives' presence gave her another idea.

"Did they bring chocobos?" she asked. Naminé's smile was all she needed.

"They did but they didn't need to," Naminé answered. "The castle stables already had quite a few." At that same moment there came a thundering knock on the door.

"Naminé!" Roxas voice called. "You were the one who said you wanted to leave bright and early. Well, it's ten o'clock now so what's your definition of 'bright and early'?"

"Last time I checked," Naminé called back as she went towards the door, "you still weren't up when I was down eating." Roxas groaned from behind the door as Naminé opened it.

"It's a Saturday Nam," he said, as if that explained everything. "Nine-thirty is bright and early to me, ten isn't."

"Well it took you a while to get out of bed then," Naminé huffed, "I assume it was you thundering down the hallway." Roxas feebly nodded and Naminé continued. "Keep it down a little bit next time, but I was ready fifteen minutes ago when Kai woke up." Kairi couldn't help but laugh out loud at that statement.

"Come on sis," she said. "You didn't even put your shirt on until a minute ago." Naminé vividly blushed, and she smacked Roxas when his eyes flickered to her chest.

"Thanks a lot Kai," Naminé said, turning to look at her with spite. "Why'd you go and make me do that?" Kairi smiled in response.

"I was just doing what you ordered me to," she explained, "having fun." Naminé stared at her for a moment before cracking a small smile.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," she said. Kairi nodded as Naminé left, the girl pausing only long enough to pull the long sling of a brown bag around her shoulder.

"Make sure you have some fun of your own while you're gone," she called after her sister's retreating figure. Kairi chuckled slightly and shook her head when she heard Naminé gaily replying that her fun is too inappropriate to discuss cordially.

Kairi stayed in bed for another minute or two, still stroking Menelmon's head softly while the digimon calmly looked at her. Now that she wasn't talking to anyone her thoughts still strayed back to the things she'd learned and experienced over the past twenty-four hours, and they made her feel down again. Except now when she thought of Sora she felt as if she was the one who'd let him down. If she hadn't been hurt again, or if she wasn't a princess of heart, maybe none of it would have happened. But then, wouldn't some other poor girl be a princess of heart instead, and she'd be the one forced to go through this ordeal?

Menelmon seemed to sense the depressing thoughts Kairi was having and, with a small hop, came to the young princess' side and snuggled her cheek against Kairi's. Kairi felt her face breaking into a smile as Menelmon's feathers tickled her nose. She tried to hold back the laughter, but after a second it broke out anyway. Her left arm came around Menelmon and wrapped her in a hug while she continued to laugh, and the bird digimon began laughing as well through a smile. She laughed her worries away in a rising and swirling wind of laughter as she had cried them away last night in a surging sea of tears.

Eventually it abated, and she smiled and hugged Menelmon close for a second. Then, the covers had flown off of her and she was standing beside her bed, looking into the mirror that Naminé had been peering into several minutes before.

"Nam was right," she moaned, pushing her hands into her cheeks. "I do look like a mess."

"You just got up," Menelmon refuted. "Of course you look ruffled." Kairi glanced back at Menelmon and smiled as her stomach growled. She looked down at it as if it was betraying her.

"What to do first then?" she asked herself, glancing back into the mirror. Her stomach gave another grumble and she grimaced. "Guess I'd better feed you first," she said, shaking her head down at it. "Are you coming Menelmon?" The flap of wings and the swirl of air currents sounded as Menelmon soared off of the bed and landed lightly on her familiar perch on the girl's left shoulder.

"I've already eaten," she declared as Kairi ambled out of the room, closing the door that Naminé had left open behind her, "but I think I can take a second breakfast." Many clouds were out in the sky, the Sun's rays only peeking through the windows of the castle as it hid behind a scattered mass of the fluffy white concoctions. But the weather did nothing to deter Kairi's suddenly good mood.

"I think Aiwemon could take a third breakfast," Kairi joked, "don't you?"

"A fourth," Menelmon corrected, giggling.

"No way," Kairi retorted as they came up to the door that concealed the east stairwell they had come up the previous night. "He couldn't eat more than Sora."

"Aiwemon's like Gomamon," Menelmon reminded her. "And remember what he dreams about?"

"Food," Kairi answered in an imitation of Gomamon's voice, "glorious food, all mine." They both laughed as Kairi opened the door and started heading down the stone stairs, the cold biting each time her bare foot slapped down.

They left on the second floor landing. A wall loomed almost on Kairi's immediate left instead of the hall she would have expected, coming from the third floor. But she shook her head with a faint smile, not all of her memories of the castle's design returned to her. There was a corridor to her right, and around the bend of the wall that ended about a foot further to her left, both in the same white stone that made up the rest of the Imperial building. Her mind favoured the left turn and Kairi chose the path set before her feet, gratefully falling onto purple carpet once more. She turned to the right when the second wall ended, some twelve feet beyond her starting point, and her eyes detected a painting on her right hand side just beyond the corner of the wall.

"Just past the painting of the lighthouse," Kairi whispered to herself, looking at it for a moment. Her eyes strayed further down the wall and found a pair of double doors set in. She could begin to smell breakfast and her stomach gave an encouraging growl to push her forward.

Kairi needed no further prodding, the fact that she hadn't eaten in over eighteen hours sinking into her brain. Her dash to the doors was marked only by the shifting of Menelmon on her shoulder, unused to the sudden change in velocity, and the swaying of a bouquet of scarlet carsons as they sat in a vase on a pedestal near the painting. The doors were flung open as she entered and gazed upon the long mahogany table, vases of flowers and candelabras set along its middle. More windows peered out through the thick walls, bringing in the grey light of the mostly overcast sky. A hanging electric chandelier was suspended above on three golden chains, its mass and currently extinguished lights spreading over much of the table.

Kensworth was standing at the ready by the doors, dressed cleanly as usual. If his uniform could have been any better than it had been last night, he had managed to make it so. Roxas and Sora's aunt, Victoria, and their uncle, Sal, were both on the side nearest to Kairi, eased back in the straight-backed wooden chairs, soft purple cushions on the back and seat of the chairs. Two empty plates sat in front of their spots on the table, remains of pancake crumbs and syrup on the plates. A large crystal pitcher of orange juice sat next to several types of jam on the end of the table where they were sitting. Sade was on the opposite side of the table with his back facing the windows and still eating from a plate in front of him, and next to him was a girl, nearing fifteen years of age. Raven hair swept down to the small of her back, tied down in a long tail. Lilac irises shone out against the black of her pupil and white of the sclera. A black jean jacket was around her shoulders, a wine red shirt underneath. Blue jeans were belted up by a dark red belt with an iron buckle. Her hands were covered by white fingerless gloves.

She looked up from the plate she was eating from when Kairi entered, and smiled.

"Long time, no see Kairi," said Sikora.

"I know," Kairi answered, moving towards a chair next to the head of the table. Kensworth followed her, but pulled out the elegant golden-painted head chair instead. Kairi looked at him for a moment before sighing and sitting down in the chair he offered her.

"Breakfast Lady Kairi?" Kensworth asked, pouring her a goblet of orange juice as Kairi pushed the chair in. Kairi looked at the remnants of the pancakes on Sade and Sikora's plates and her stomach sounded again.

"Yes Kensworth," she replied as Menelmon fluttered off of her shoulder and onto a chair next to Kairi, a stack of cushions already on it. Evidently that was where she had been when she was down earlier. "I'll have some pancakes, toast, and scrambled eggs please. And could you please have Helia make sure that Menelmon gets a second helping of whatever she'd like."

"Hash browns please," Menelmon piped up. Kensworth nodded and bustled off towards a swinging double door a few feet behind Kairi's chair. Kairi looked back towards Sikora and smiled at the younger girl.

"So how's life been Sikora?" she asked. "Sorry I haven't been around to ride with you for a while."

"It's no problem Kairi," Sikora replied. "I know that you've probably been busy, what with high school and all of this other world stuff that I keep hearing bits and pieces of."

"Yeah, my heart migrating to Sora's, losing my memories of him, and getting captured by the bad guys twice kind of puts a dint in my free time," said Kairi. "And I was a bit too busy with schoolwork and secret sword training over the past year."

"Like I said," Sikora restated, "don't worry about it. We can always go riding later." Sade snorted indignantly.

"Great," he murmured. "You guys get to go off riding chocobos while I have to hang out with Riku and try to convince Sora that he's a moron and he's wrong."

"Well he is a moron and he is wrong," Kairi said. "But, it isn't his fault. He's only a simple minded guy after all."

"Hey! I resent that," Sade retorted, looking towards his father. Sal glanced at his wife before shrugging and looking humorously at his son.

"No comment," he huffed.

"Oh come on Dad!" Sade snapped. Sal simply tilted his head to the side in a manner that suggested the impression of 'I can't do anything to change the truth'.

"She's right you know," Victoria said with a smile. "Hopelessly in love and being extremely overprotective go hand in hand."

"Or foot in mouth," Sikora giggled. Kairi, Menelmon, and Victoria laughed. The double doors swung open and Kensworth returned, carrying a plate with what Kairi asked for on his right hand, and the plate with Menelmon's hash browns in the crook of the same arm. Another servant came in behind him, cleanly dressed in a grey suit, and took the plates and dishes of Sal, Victoria, and Sade (as he had just finished eating).

"Helia hopes it will be to your liking," Kensworth said courteously, bowing very slightly as he placed the dishes in front of the princess and her partner digimon and the other servant retreated back into the kitchens. "She doesn't feel as if her cooking is quite up to par with what it had been."

"Well how did Naminé and Roxas react to whatever they ate?" Kairi asked.

"They didn't say," said Kensworth with a shake of his head. "Lady Naminé ate her breakfast quickly and then left with Menelmon, after the bright flash of light that turned her from the little blue ball into the bird."

"Digivolving," Menelmon corrected, swallowing a beakful of hash browns.

"Pardon me, digivolving," Kensworth corrected himself with an appreciative nod at Menelmon. "And Sir Roxas finished his bowl of ramen faster than a man can blink if I do say so myself."

"He's not exaggerating," Sal said, looking seriously at Kairi's bemused expression. "If I hadn't have seen that bowl steaming full a moment before, I would have thought that he had been given an empty one."

"He and Sora have a favourite food in common then," Kairi said. "Place a bowl or plate of ramen in front of Sora and it's gone in a flash. But, before they left, Naminé did mention that Helia was, and I quote, 'A damn good cook'." The butler nodded but visibly stiffened.

"I shudder to think of the magnitude of noodles Helia and the kitchen staff will have to prepare if both the keyblade master and his brother come to live here," said Kensworth.

"Don't worry about that Kensworth," Sal said, stretching out his arms. "They'll be coming home with us." Sikora looked at him in surprise.

"What?"

"I forgot to tell you dear," Victoria solemnly began. "Sora's and Roxas' mother passed away recently."

"You mean that Auntie Anne is-?"

Sal swallowed a lump in his throat. "Yes, she has gone to a better place now. So we will now look after her sons as like our own."

"And we heard of the passing of Kairi's foster parents from The Right Honorable Prime Minister Squall Leonhart," Kensworth said. "We'll take good care of Ladies Kairi and Naminé, like we used to." Kairi looked down slightly and picked up a bit of scrambled egg with a set of chopsticks.

Her eyes brightened tenfold. "Hey this is really good," she said upon extracting the wooden utensils from her mouth. "I had forgotten that Helia was such a good cook."

"So I can relieve her of her worries?" Kensworth asked hopefully. Sal laughed.

"The food was excellent you pompous, professional butler," he said affectionately, waving a hand through the air.

"Oh, wait," Kairi mumbled through a mouthful of pancake. She swallowed deeply and took a swig of orange juice from her golden goblet before giving a great exhale and consequent inhale. "Try a bit of toast first Kensworth."

"If you insist milady," Kensworth said, deftly swiping a piece of buttered toast from the girl's plate before she even saw the movement of his hands. He held it perfectly horizontal in his poised left hand, steady as a rock. His right moved down towards the myriad of jams and scooped a healthy amount on marmalade onto the butter knife in place in the jar. Kairi grimaced when she looked at the orange jam glistening on the knife's flat edge, she had never liked marmalade. Kensworth's hand came up to the bread and with three quick strokes the marmalade was softly and evenly spread all across the piece of whole-wheat toast. His hands moved with precision, exchanging knife and toast from one to the other, and his left set down the knife on the rim of the jam jar. With a crunch he bit into the toast, crumbs falling into his grey beard and marmalade sticking to his upper lip.

"Thank you milady," Kensworth said after swallowing his bite of toast. "I shall inform Helia that the cooking of both her and the kitchen staff is still impervious to flaw." Kairi gave him an annoyed look at the humourous tone in his voice. Kensworth only smiled and walked back through the double doors, taking another bite of the crispy toast.

Not a single crumb fell onto the floor.

"He's good," Sade said, raising an eyebrow.

"And so is the food," Menelmon said, swallowing another bite of her now nearly invisible plate of hash browns. There came a gurgling noise from her and she began moving her neck up and down, a bit of food caught in her throat. Kairi smiled and quirked an eyebrow, holding her goblet of orange juice out to the bird digimon. Menelmon dipped her beak into the yellow liquid and took several gulps. She pulled a strained face as she retreated. They all laughed at the expression on the small bird digimon's face before she relieved her airway.

"You alright Menel?" Kairi asked. Menelmon nodded and looked inquiringly at Kairi.

"Yes, but when did you start calling me 'Menel'?"

"When did Sora #1 start calling Biyomon 'Biyo'?" Kairi quickly replied.

"Touché," said Menelmon before dipping her snow white beak and tossing up a hash brown for it to land perfectly in her mouth. Sal looked at his watch.

"Well Sade it's about time we left," he said, rising languidly from his chair. "Need to go visit Sora after all."

"And convince him that he's a blockhead for reasons I still don't understand?" Sade answered, "Sure, as long as Riku doesn't use me for a frustrated punching bag." He got up from his chair and moved around the table towards his father.

"You two are going to have to get over that," his mother sighed. Sade rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah yeah, we will after we've outgrown it."

"Take care masters," Kensworth said, returning once more with another servant, who promptly took Menelmon's and Sikora's dishes before gliding away again. Kairi quickly finished her breakfast after that. When he saw that she was done eating and drinking, Kensworth startled Kairi by pulling the chair out for her. After her moment of surprise, Kairi laughed.

"I'm sorry Kensworth," she said. "I'm just not used to people waiting on me. For the last ten years I have been doing things on my own and had no idea that I was a princess."

"Of course milady," Kensworth said with a nod. "Shall I tone down the 'waiting on you hand and foot' then?" Kairi laughed again.

"Yes," she replied, "definitely." Menelmon flapped her wings and soared across the table to land on Kairi's shoulder as before. Kairi smiled at her and turned towards her ex's (and hopefully ex-ex's if whatever the guys were planning was successful) aunt and cousin.

"I'm going to go have a shower," she declared gaily. "Anyone want to go riding with me after that?"

"Oh, I do Kairi!" Sikora said quickly.

"Do be careful milady Kairi," Kensworth was quick to add. "Chocobos can be unpredictable and dangerous if you don't know how to handle them properly. I'll send along our best rider as well."

"That won't be necessary Kensworth," Kairi said, flicking her hair with one hand as she left through the doors.

She returned upstairs to her room, noticing that the sky was still cloudy and overcast, but breaking. Menelmon decided to stay in the room and wait for Kairi to finish her shower and return. Kairi smiled at her as the ice-blue bird soared up to the bulb on the top of the four-poster's left foot post. She stripped herself of her crest and digivice, pausing for more than a second as she gazed at her blue crest, and left them on the dresser.

It took her at least twenty minutes to navigate her way around the third floor before she found the bathroom. She nearly smacked herself in the head as she stood somewhere in the castle's west wing when she realized that the room she was looking for was the very last door down the corridor along the bedrooms in the east wing, the one she had passed completely by when she had begun her search. She chided herself for forgetting, but also reminded herself that at least she had gotten the chance to explore the castle's third floor a little more thoroughly as her memories came back. A great weight seemed to come off of her shoulders as she undressed in the bathroom, like she was stripping off more than just clothes before she stepped into the shower. After the initial shock of cold, the water warmed right up, and the soap, shampoo and conditioner felt like they removed more than just salt deposits from dried sweat and dead skin.

It didn't remove her surprise though to find that her clothes had vanished when she stepped out of her shower, dripping wet from the steaming water. Drying and then wrapping herself in a furry pink towel and her hair up in another, she peeked out of the door. Kairi flinched and sneezed as the cold air bombarded her nose, and her eyes stung. But there was not a single soul in the empty hall. She tiptoed out, cringing each time her warm toes touched the cold white stone until they reached the carpet. With her feet on the fur, Kairi dashed down the hall towards the door of her room, her movements muffled by the carpet.

"You're back," Menelmon said, fluttering off of her perch and onto the bed.

"Yes," Kairi answered, quickly closing the door behind her. "But when I found out who took my-"

"It was the servants," Menelmon answered, nodding her head towards the chair where Naminé's shirt had rested an hour before. Kairi looked towards the chair and found a set of riding garb prepared for her. Black socks, long blue jeans with a black belt and towering leather boots, a yellow cotton shirt and brown jean jacket, and Kairi raised her eyebrow when she saw that a set of blue undergarments had also been placed with them.

"That's considerate of them," Kairi said sarcastically, dropping the towel and sliding into her new outfit. "Couldn't at least _tell_ me that they were going to do that."

"Maybe they like playing pranks?" Menelmon asked with a smile as Kairi dressed.

"Roxas and Naminé are bad influences," Kairi huffed, slinging her crest around her neck. "They've gotten to the staff before I could." But she smiled inwardly. Maybe this was Naminé's parting way of saying, 'Have fun'. After all, she did say that her type of fun was too inappropriate to discuss cordially.

And having fun was exactly what Kairi intended to do today as she clipped her digivice to her belt, and for the next few days. Sora or no Sora, she was going to enjoy herself on this little reprieve and vacation that everyone seemed to understand needed to be taken.

-A-D-

_I had originally planned for this to be a three part chapter titled 'Idiocy, Consoling, Automail', but then I realized that I didn't have enough time to write all of that. So I've cut it into three separate chapters, cutting down the length of 'Consoling' which will be lengthened through segments of the next four or five chapters._

_I rather liked doing this chapter, writing the things girls do while being a guy myself is interesting. Sorry guys, but we are all idiots. I have a twin sister, and an older sister who's married. I understand this concept better than most._

_Drop a review for the last chapter you'll see in a while!_

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	9. Questions

_Staffing is going along so well. I've even managed to find time to write to you all. And even met one of you here. How are you guys by the way? And I'm sorry I haven't been able to reply to your reviews for a long while. We haven't had internet access for a lot longer than Lt. Wright said that we wouldn't._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, or anything that is not of my design._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter IX: Questions

Riku awoke in the morning, a very slight smile on his face as his aqua eyes took in the immediate surroundings of his girlfriend Yuffie's apartment. It was a small place, yes, but perfect for the young kunoichi who loved to run around town. Riku currently was lying down on a blue couch backed against a wall in the small living room, a large television screen mere feet in front of his face. There was another green chair to the couch's right, and a potted fern atop an end table to the couch's left. Further down to the right of the couch and chair, the living room 'ended' as a small circular wooden table stood in front of a bookshelf that lined one wall, a clock overtop of the bookshelf. The remains of the previous night's pizza boxes were still on the table and two straight-backed wooden chairs were pushed into the table. To its left, there was a small partitioning wall that separated the small kitchen. Further past the kitchen was a small hallway leading to the apartment's bathroom and single bedroom. Riku had never seen the inside of Yuffie's bedroom, but he knew that she had to have her own reasons for keeping her room out of the tour.

Riku groaned an early morning wake-up groan and rolled his way off of the couch, letting his bare feet sink into the blue carpet of Yuffie's living room. He glanced a worn pair of aqua eyes at the entertainment setup only a few feet in front of him, trying to beat the sleep out of his eyes with his knuckles. The mat that they had used to play Dancestep Megamix (a video game where you had to place your foot down in the correct spot in time with a music track) the previous night was in a jumbled heap only four inches to the left of his own left foot. Riku smirked as he glanced down at the mat, still rubbing his eyelids. The two of them had played the game well into two in the morning and, just like the last while that Riku had slept at Yuffie's, she had thoroughly trounced him. However, he had proven to her that in any arcade fighting game, he was the champion.

He chuckled slightly as he rose unsteadily from the couch, his long hair swaying with him. His eyes found the face of the round clock hanging over the bookshelf and read it slowly, his brain still trying to wake up. Finally his brain was able to sort out the confusing three hands on the clock's face and figure out that it was eight-thirty four in the morning. He dimly recognized that since he hadn't actually gone to sleep until a quarter to three, he really would not have liked to wake up this early, especially on a Saturday.

Riku scowled and turned his head away from the clock. In truth, he had liked it, even picked it out for Yuffie when he had helped her move into the apartment a few weeks back. But even then she still had tackled her bedroom entirely by herself. _Nobody_ entered it but her. The first time he had come to Radiant Garden with her she was in a room in the castle, but after much pouting and whining that she had no privacy in such a big place, Leon and Riku finally succumbed (with Cid's threat of shoving his spear in a place neither of them would have liked if they didn't hanging over their heads) and pooled together to get her this apartment. And she had jumped for joy and ran circles around Merlin's house, offering to give each of them a sparring match against the Great Ninja Yuffie as a reward. Riku would much rather have preferred a light kiss, but he didn't voice his opinion at the time and humbly declined in such a way to keep both his honour and Yuffie's intact. Leon just shook his head and walked casually away from Yuffie with a smile on his face.

Riku's stomach growled and he was forced out of his reminiscing. Scowling down at it, he turned away into the kitchen to look for something to placate the beast. He stopped with a blank look as his eyes strayed over the cupboards, counters, and kitchen appliances. As far as he'd seen, Yuffie'd only eaten hot foods such as French Toast or pancakes or eggs for breakfast.

_When was the last time Yuffie had anything cold and easy like cereal?_ Riku thought as he searched through the pantry and various cupboards. Unable to locate any, he turned a frightened eye towards the stove. _What am I going to do? I can't cook!_

Yuffie walked in just as he thought this, a lime green housecoat covering her body and her raven hair pulled back behind her head. She strode up to Riku and lightly hugged him. "Morning," she said as she pulled back and gave him a tiny kiss on the cheek, arching her head up to reach. Riku could see her suppress a giggle as she caught the frightened look in his eyes before he could hide it in time.

"How about we go out for breakfast today?" Yuffie asked with a slight smile on her face. Riku's face warmed and he smiled at Yuffie, swooping down and planting a kiss right on the tip of her nose. He laughed when she squealed in surprise at the location.

"Thanks Yuf," he said, chuckling through a contented sigh. She rolled her eyes and turned back towards the hall.

"No problem," she said. "Neither of us can cook anyways. And I want pancakes."

"Keep that up and you're going to become Stewie," said Riku, raising an eyebrow at her while his smile stayed. Yuffie promptly turned around, a twisted smile on her face.

"Then you'd have to start calling me 'baby', eh Rik?" she said. "And sing me to sleep." Riku shook his head.

"Never," he said. "I don't sing. I don't sing along to songs I like either. I'm not like the two pairs of lovebirds I hang out with who can't stop breaking out into song at every little thing."

"Well," Yuffie reasoned, twirling a finger through her hair, "maybe they like singing. Ever thought of that?"

"Yes I have, and I accept their desire to sing a little. I just prefer not to sing, actually, I loathe myself singing."

"What?" Yuffie asked, surprised. "Why?" Riku looked her in the eye, and the corner of his mouth twitched upwards into a smirk.

"I'll tell you at breakfast," he said.

Yuffie was gone from the kitchen in a puff of black smoke in the wink of an eye, the lime green robe she was in dropping onto the blue carpet. Riku looked at it with a raised eyebrow before his face turned a deep crimson and he couldn't bear to look at it. So _that_ was why she never allowed anyone into her room. Not even on the _Highwind_ had anyone gone into her room after she had 'liberated' it from Kairi with her permission. And now he suspected why.

-A-D-

They left the apartment about five minutes later. Riku kept his eyes firmly fixed away from Yuffie's face (and the great majority of her body in general) most of the time, hoping to avoid a major blush. Due to his eyes' evasion, Yuffie could sense the awkward silence pressing in on them as she locked the front door behind them, and wondered what had caused it. She placed her hand on Riku's and his hand noticeably stiffened before slowly taking it.

Yuffie led their way through the streets of Radiant Garden, already starting to become a place of hustle and bustle as people made their way to their places of work or to pick up coffee from a few cafés. There weren't that many vehicles on the streets, many people preferring to walk, bicycle, or ride a chocobo rather than own a car. Most of the cars were only for those of importance, and the chocobos were mostly used as work animals to pull carts of goods or people rather than individuals. But from the snippets of conversation they overheard from almost every group of people they passed there seemed to be one of four topics on everyone's mind. Rumours around the keyblade master's sudden arrival the previous night, the upcoming election, both Princess Naminé and Princess Kairi, and the heartless war as it was fast becoming known as. Whatever the case, it all inevitably led back to the war. Sora and both princesses fought heartless, directly linking them to the fourth topic, and the election would decide the government that would have to deal with handling the crisis against the heartless.

The awkwardness between Riku and Yuffie only grew as they walked through the streets. People paused what they were doing and looked at them, most of them waving their hands or calling their names in greeting. But all of them bent their heads together and whispered in voices that the astute keyblade master and kunoichi couldn't hear.

Yuffie's face slowly turned into a scowl as they passed by a group of gaggling girls around their age, who immediately began whispering frantically with each other and giving Yuffie dirty looks as soon as they had caught sight of the pair. Yuffie turned her head around as they passed the group and stuck her tongue out at them. Looking around, she saw that her destination was almost in sight, but she'd rather not be eating with Riku in the current atmosphere. She squeezed his hand tightly, causing his head to swivel and his eyes to seek hers despite the earlier resolve they had held in keeping away.

"We need to talk," she said. She tugged strongly on his arm, bringing him closer to her while her other hand rapidly went through a quick series of gestures, faster than the eye could see and taking less than a second. Together they vanished within a cloud of black smoke, to the insult of the girls who had still been glowering at Yuffie, especially for her cheeky tongue.

In reality, they had simply 'poofed' into an alley in between two buildings just a couple of meters to their left. Riku immediately looked to the right, seeing the last wisps of the black smoke they had vanished in fade away and understanding the trick instantly. But when his eyes found Yuffie again, he found that he couldn't look at her.

"A-about what?" he asked, cursing his voice cracking on him in that moment. Yuffie folded her arms and tapped her booted foot on the stone ground.

"Something's bothering you," she said. "And it's making both you and me feel uncomfortable together." She slowly drew a hand to her head and began stroking her fingers around her face. "I don't have a pimple do I? Wait, how could I have a zit now? I just checked myself in the mirror. I look good all over. Is it something to do with you singing? Wait, I know, you know of another ninja out there who is better than me. Well they're about to be in for a world of Yuffie hurt!"

"What?" Riku asked. "No! It's nothing like that."

"Then what is it?" Yuffie asked heatedly. Riku opened his mouth to speak, but he immediately blushed and looked away from her. Yuffie raised an eyebrow and wondered why he would be blushing. Could he be embarrassed about something? She mulled it over.

_What could Riku be embarrassed about? It can't that he was embarrassed to lose to me at Dancestep Megamix fifty times last night. After all, he did beat me at Vice Fight a lot too. Is it that he can't cook? No, otherwise he-wait, maybe that is it. But, I'm not embarrassed that I can't cook. Well, that's not entirely true. I am, especially after those cookies yesterday. But that's baking, not cooking. But I'm not showing that I'm embarrassed about not being able to cook am I? Has he caught on, is that it? That's it; I'm going to learn how to cook even if it kills me._

_Then again, if I fail at learning how to cook, and I end up thinking I can cook when I can't, I'll end up being even more embarrassed. But how does cooking work into all of this? Why did I start thinking about cooking? Oh right, because we're going to breakfast at Tifa's Seventh Heaven. Completely forgot about that._

"Yuffie," Riku said, breaking into her musings.

"Hm?" she said, looking up at him, still confused as to why he would be embarrassed. He looked like he was in a lot of emotional pain, or confusion, and it was causing his awkwardness. However, she could immediately tell from his voice that it was a touchy subject.

"Yuffie I have to ask," he said slowly, keeping his eyes away from her. "What were you wearing under your housecoat this morning?" She stared at him for a second, half wondering why he would ask such a question and half enraged that he _would_ ask such a question. She was just about to open her mouth and yell at him whilst striking him repeatedly when her mind kicked in.

_Wait, what did I do with that housecoat?_ She stopped, suddenly puzzled as to where the housecoat was. She had put it on when she got out of bed, went to the bathroom, washed her hands, went into the kitchen, poofed into her room again and got dressed. But she couldn't remember taking it off or even seeing it in her room when they left.

Her eyes widened and her cheeks became scarlet as she suddenly realized just why Riku was embarrassed, and she became just as uncomfortable.

_Saying that I look good all over probably wasn't a good idea,_ she thought ashamedly, her eyes dropping away from Riku and her arms moving defensively in front of her body, suddenly feeling very coy and self-conscious.

Her new body language only prodded Riku further. "Yuffie..." he asked quietly, "were you... naked?"

"Yes Riku I was naked!" Yuffie snapped at him, feeling utterly humiliated. She was speaking rather quickly, and probably a little louder than she should have been. "I was naked. I sleep naked. I like the feeling of the soft linen sheets against my skin okay? That's why no one goes into my bedroom, not even you. Okay!?" Yuffie turned her back to Riku and leaned against the side of the building. Her shoulders sagged a little and a tear started to form in her eyes before she spun around quickly. "Want to make something of it?" she asked aggressively. She stopped suddenly. Riku was a lot closer than he had been a few seconds ago. He was smiling, but not in a perverted way, it was a smile of relief.

"Thanks for setting that straight Yuffie," he said, this time moving his hand to take hers. "Just thinking it without knowing for sure was driving me crazier than Sora does sometimes." Yuffie smiled and took his hand, wiping the tear away as relief bubbled up from within her. She was feeling a lot better now, knowing that Riku accepted it without complaint was the best thing he could have done. And it also felt good to get that off of her chest. Now she didn't feel like she would be sinning a little bit every time she went to sleep, now that someone knows and accepts it. Keeping it a secret felt to her like a heavy weight in the pit of her stomach, but now the weight was gone, and she felt elated and ecstatic.

"So how crazy does Sora drive you sometimes?" Yuffie asked, an extra bounce in her step as she almost forced Riku to power walk just to keep up with her.

"Sometimes, like last night, I want to strangle him," Riku said, turning with Yuffie as they left the alleyway, to the horror of the gaggle of girls. Who knew what unspeakable acts of evil lust Yuffie had been doing to their Riku while they were in there? (And they thought they had heard the word 'naked' at one point coming from around that corner)

"Because he's a pain in the ass when it comes to relationships?" Yuffie asked. "You aren't much better you know."

"Ouch," Riku said, smiling at her jest. "But I did everything I could to get those two together. I stayed out of their way. I let them have their 'alone' time. I even made sure that my locker wasn't by theirs and didn't leave with them. I didn't walk to school with them like I normally do so they could be alone. I didn't tell them that I had been grounded for less time than either of them and I was the one who hinted to Sora that he should go into the secret place. I do all of this behind-the-scenes work to get them together, and Sora ruins all of it like that!" Riku snapped his fingers in frustration as they reached the entrance to the café Yuffie was leading them to.

"The pig," Yuffie scowled, waiting for Riku to open the door for her.

"Hyena more like," Riku corrected, opening the door. "He'll eat anything. Pigs won't." Yuffie laughed at his comment and went inside, smiling and waving at Tifa as the young woman stood at the bar at the far end of the Seventh Heaven. Most of the booths and parlours had been removed, some of them moved to sit against the left wall, and replaced with a conglomerate of circular wooden tables and chairs. Despite that though, the place looked very appealing with a large television screen angled up in a corner, two new pool tables, and a jukebox. There weren't that many patrons in the bar at the moment, so Tifa immediately brightened up when she saw Yuffie.

"How's it going you two?" Tifa asked. "Had a good night?"

"Yup," Yuffie said proudly, bounding onto one of the stools. "Thrashed Riku last night. He can't beat my fancy footwork."

"Hn," Riku grunted as he took a stool. "More like floppy footwork. But I still can't beat her in that game." Yuffie punched his arm.

Tifa smiled at them. "What'll it be this morning guys? Yuffie, the usual?" At her nod Tifa turned to look at Riku. "What about you then Riku?"

"I don't know. What have you got for breakfast?"

"Just give him a usual too Tifa," Yuffie said. Tifa nodded.

"Alright, two usuals then." Tifa walked out through the back double doors that led into the kitchen and Riku looked at Yuffie with a quirked eyebrow.

"The usual?" he asked.

"Scrambled eggs, two pancakes, and a tall glass of Banora White apple juice," she explained.

"Banora White?" Riku asked. Yuffie looked at him.

"We call them dumbapples," she said. "It's because the trees bear fruit randomly throughout the year, as if they're too dumb to know just when they're supposed to. Don't worry though, they're always ripe when they do fall." Riku shrugged and looked forward.

"Whatever you say," he said apathetically. Yuffie bristled but held her tongue for a few seconds.

"So tell me," she said. "Why do you hate to sing?"

"Oh this ought to be good," Tifa said, returning with their juice.

"You really want to know?" Riku asked, giving both of them a sideways glance through his hair. Both girls nodded with wide smiles, Yuffie's grin a lot wider than Tifa's.

Riku sighed and took a swig of his juice, finding it pleasantly cool and tasty. "About seven years ago, I tried out for the school choir. My mother had always told me that I had a great singing voice so I thought I'd try out. Then, when I was singing for my audition, I became all tongue-tied and the words started coming out squeaky and scratchy, and then they stopped coming out entirely because I'd forgotten the words. Other kids started laughing, and I could even see Sora and Kairi sniggering, though they tried to hide it. I was horrible, and I vowed that I would not sing again." Riku scowled at Tifa and Yuffie as they began laughing.

"See, you both find it funny that I can't sing too! That's why I don't do it. People just laugh at me."

"That's a silly reason Riku," Yuffie chortled. "And here I thought it was something big, like you were afraid you'd turn into a hot pop superstar if you started to sing. Then you'd have to avoid even more adoring fans."

"I don't know Yuffie," Tifa said, recovering from her laughter and moving back into the kitchen. "I think his reason has merits. Everyone's afraid of something."

"How do I even have adoring fangirls anyway?" Riku asked. "I've never even seen these people before." Yuffie scoffed her head upwards and rolled her eyes.

"It's because you're a hottie Riku," she said. "I mean, look at you! Your muscles are toned. You have a tan. You're starting to get a slightly stubbly chin. Your hair is gorgeous and your eyes captivating. And your slightly baggy clothes just make you hotter. And on top of all of that, you're a keyblade master and Sora couldn't have saved the worlds either time without you. Damn, girls should have to pay a fee just for looking at your awesomely attractive body." Riku grunted and smiled at Yuffie. She could tell that he could see the admiration in her eyes.

"Maybe," he said, shrugging slightly. "But for you, there is no charge for awesomeness, or, attractiveness." Yuffie laughed with him and nearly inhaled some of her juice. Riku chuckled slightly and turned on his stool to look at her.

"So, what are you afraid of then, Yuffie?" he asked. "I've told you about my singing, what about you?"

"That you'll die," Yuffie said offhandedly.

"Okay, give me another one then," Riku said, rolling his eyes and appearing to shrug it off. Yuffie looked at him humorously.

"Why?" she asked. "Didn't I already tell you a secret this morning? Or have you forgotten how I sleep already?" Riku blushed and turned back to face the front.

"No, I haven't forgotten Yuf," he said.

"What has Riku not forgotten now Yuffie?" asked Tifa, returning with their eggs and pancakes. Yuffie glanced sideways to make sure that nobody else was paying attention to their conversation. She then leaned in closer to Tifa.

"I sleep in the buff," said Yuffie, in a very low and hushed voice. Tifa's eyes widened for a second before she dipped her head and gestured into a reverent bow. Yuffie laughed a little in confusion at the older young woman's silly bow. "What's that for?"

"I would have never thought you so courageous Yuffie," Tifa replied with a smile and a wink. Riku stabbed his fork into a pancake.

"Why is that?" Yuffie asked, slightly insulted at Tifa's comment. "Don't you think higher of the Great Ninja Yuffie?"

"Oh there's no denying your talents young Wutai kunoichi," Tifa replied. "I just didn't know that the bed bronco was one of them."

"Huh?" Riku took another swig of his Banora White juice.

"Well, imagine if Riku accidentally came in, or some random guy broke in," Tifa continued. "If they wanted to do you as soon as they saw you, they wouldn't even need to fight to get your clothes off."

"Didn't ever think of that," Yuffie said, looking down. "But if I _didn't_ want it, they'd be in for a world of Yuffie hurt before they could even pull out their-"

"Could we please not talk about this?" Riku asked, wincing. "I don't want these disturbing mental images in my mind so early in the day, especially when I'm eating."

"Oh yes that right," Yuffie said, rubbing Riku's head. "Only one of the guys is currently present. We can talk all about what I'd do to the male reproductive organs if someone tried to rape me in my sleep later Tifa, when all of us are together for supper tonight."

"We are?" Riku asked. "When did this happen?" Yuffie smiled.

"Just now," she said. "Pass it around. We're all going to chow here tonight." Tifa rolled her eyes and smiled at Yuffie's persuasiveness as Riku gave in without complaint. Although, both Tifa and Yuffie noticed Riku's eyes straying to the pocket of his jeans, where his wallet rested.

-A-D-

"Gawrsh Sora, cheer up a little," Goofy said. "After all, you still have your health, right?" The teenage boy looked at Goofy, then at where his left arm _should_ have been, then back at Goofy again.

"Okay, maybe that was the wrong thing to say," Goofy said, putting a white-gloved finger to the side of his chin.

"It certainly was you big palooka" Donald quacked, his arms bent and fists on his hips.

"Come on Sora," Aiwemon said sombrely from the boy's right shoulder. "You know I don't like to see you like this." Sora turned his head towards his little digimon partner and sighed.

"Sorry buddy," he said, "but I just can't really feel happy right now. I can't really feel much of anything right now."

"This is serious," Donald whispered to Goofy.

"I know Donald," Goofy whispered back. "But what are we going to do about it? If Sora doesn't want to cheer up, there's really nothing much we can do."

"Goofy's right," Jiminy Cricket said from atop Goofy's shoulder. "We all know how stubborn Sora is."

"Then we'll just take his mind off of things," Donald answered, turning a sneaky eye towards the gimped teenager. Donald cleared his throat and moved towards Sora's hospital bed again. The day had passed slowly as different groups of people had tried to get Sora's mind out of the gutter and back up. Roxas and Naminé had been by first with Cid, but only to assure him that they would find him a mechanic who would make him the best possible mechanical arm, to which he apathetically replied 'whatever'. Riku had taken the first real shift, and in the face of high expectations, failed utterly as he and Sade argued throughout the entire hour they spent with Sora. However, Axel, Mushu, and Tom were even worse when they took over, so much so that Dr. Fraiser gave Axel a clean bill of health just so they could remove him from the hospital even though he had slipped out the previous night. It was now finally Donald, Goofy, Aiwemon, and Jiminy's turn, and they were having just as much luck as the others. Aiwemon had been with Sora through most of the day as well, and ate most of Sora's breakfast and lunch that the nurse tending him brought in, as Sora was surprisingly not hungry.

"So Sora," said Donald. "Apart from whatever happened yesterday, what have you and Kairi been up to?"

"Losing," Sora said darkly.

"I said apart from yesterday," Donald repeated, a little irritated.

"Almost dying a few times," said Sora.

"Apart from yesterday," Donald repeated, angrier.

"Captain Jack Sparrow died," Sora answered dismally.

"Okay, now we're getting somewhere," Donald said, clapping his hands together. He was making progress, he was sure of it. "What else happened?"

"Rufio died," Sora said.

"Who was Rufio?" Jiminy Cricket asked, his journal already out.

"He was the leader of the Lost Boys," Sora said. "Peter Pan had left Neverland for London, and had grown up."

"Peter grew up?" Goofy asked. "But how? It hasn't been that long." Sora shook his head.

"No but there's some weird time distortion thing going on," Sora explained. "Peter left Neverland, grew up, and married Wendy's granddaughter Moira. They had two kids, Jack and Maggie. Hook managed to leave Neverland and come to their world and stole Maggie and Jack from Peter one night while he, Moira, and Wendy were attending a dinner in Wendy's honour about an orphan hospital. Kairi and I had stayed behind on Wendy's word to keep an eye on the kids, but we blacked out as soon as Hook showed up in a green light."

"Wow Sora," Donald said, winking and nudging Goofy. "What happened next?"

"Well Peter came back," Sora said, now stuck in telling the story and forgetting about feeling sorry for himself, "and he started freaking out that they were gone. He even yelled at us, because he didn't remember me at the time. He'd even forgotten that he was Peter Pan. To him, he was Peter Banning, a very successful and talented lawyer. But later that night, Tinkerbell showed up and took the three of us to Neverland after Hook. You guys remember how to get to Neverland right?" Sora smiled slightly and looked at the three in front of him, as Aiwemon was still perched on his right shoulder.

"Sure do Sora," Goofy said. "Second star to the right and straight on 'till morning, ahyuk." Sora nodded and Goofy looked onto his shoulder. "You getting all of this Jiminy?"

"I sure am Goofy," the cricket in the top hat and tailcoat replied. "Man, I guess I missed a lot of stuff for my journal. Keep going Sora, what happened next?"

"Well," Sora continued, "we got to Never-Neverland and chased after Peter, who had no idea how to behave in a pirate town anymore. We spotted Smee with Captain Hook's hook, and followed it along with every other person in the pirate town. When we got to Hook's ship Peter blended in with the crowd and Kairi and I watched Hook give a speech from the crow's nest."

"What kind of speech?" Aiwemon asked.

"Oh, let me see if I can remember some of it," Sora said, leaning back into his pillow and closing his eyes. He was silent for a couple of minutes, before starting again in his best Captain Hook imitation, "_I baited that hook and now I'm very proud to announce, we have his children. Finally I'm going to kill Peter Pan, that cocky boy who cut off my hand and fed it to the crocodile! And who killed that cunning crocodile?_" Sora stopped for half a second, laughed, and began again, replacing his Hook imitation with a gruff voice so he sounded differently. "_Hook!__ Who stuffed him? __Hook!__ Who turned him into a quiet clock? __Hook!__ Who went into the other world and stole Pan's children? __Hook!__ And who didn't believe I could do it?_"

Sora laughed again slightly. "And then Hook went along on a whole tangent that there was someone on board who had bet against him, who was a stranger amongst the loyal and that he would weed us out. He came right up to a disguised Peter and another pirate, and chose the other pirate, putting him in the boo-box. Then the crew drew a net up from the hold, with Maggie and Jack in it. Peter abandoned his disguise and rushed right up to his kids and Hook." Sora stopped and looked down sheepishly, placing his head in his remaining hand. Donald and Goofy raised their eyebrows inquiringly.

"I'm not quite sure what happened next," Sora muttered, "Because Kairi and I started a personal discussion in our seclusion in the crow's nest."

"Oh really?" Donald asked deviously, rubbing his hands together. "Are you sure it was a conversation, or a kissing contest?" Sora's eyes bolted wide open and his hand flew away from his face. Aiwemon flew off of his shoulder in his arm's sudden movements.

"What? No!" he said loudly. "All we were doing was talking about if we were ever going to have kids someday." Sora fell over onto his right shoulder, Aiwemon thinking gratefully that he had just taken flight, and he began scowling.

"But that's not important anymore," Sora said. "I've broken up with Kairi. That dream was just a figment of my imagination. I'll never have kids with Kairi. What future could a princess and an average guy keyblade master with no keyblade have together anyway?"

"But Sora, you're not just any keyblade master," Jiminy Cricket quickly said. "You're the _chosen_ master of the keyblade. The keyblade chose you to be its wielder."

"Yeah," Sora answered. "And keyblades choose their wielders anyway, and mine chose to leave me." Goofy shook his head.

"Not true Sora," he said. "At least, not according to what the King says." Sora snorted and glowered down through what had once been spiked hair.

"Yeah, and what does King Mickey say?"

"Well, his Majesty said to me once that all of the keyblades collectively chose you to be their master," Goofy said. "That you can control or call any keyblade to you, no matter who holds it. But, maybe he can explain things better."

"Yeah, and maybe someone else can protect Kairi and the worlds better than I can," Sora said darkly. "But, what was I thinking? She's a princess. I'm way out of her league. There's probably a prince out there somewhere that can make her happy."

"But Sora," Aiwemon argued, "you love Kairi, and she loves you."

"Yeah," Donald added. "Why else would she have given you that paopu fruit she mentioned?" Sora scowled at them and rolled over, sinking his head into his pillow.

"I don't feel like talking anymore," he said. "Leave me alone...please." Donald squabbled in indignation, and although it didn't take much of Goofy's strength to pull him back, it did take all of his willpower.

Just as they left through the doorway three little people flew past them. Two of them were excited, the third was indifferent. Donald and Goofy stopped, turning around to watch as the Gullwings flew right up to Sora's ear. Aiwemon watched as well from the place near the ceiling where he was hovering.

"Wakey-wakey lazy-azy!" Rikku yelled into his exposed ear. Sora jerked upwards, his head smacking into Rikku and sending her tumbling through the air into the opposite wall.

"Ow," she moaned, hovering just off of the wall and rubbing the back of her head. "Why did you have to hit me so hard?" Yuna giggled slightly but held her tongue.

"Tch," Paine said. "It is your fault for yelling so loudly."

"Rikku!" Sora yelled. "I am not in the mood!"

"Meany grouch," Rikku huffed, floating over towards Yuna as the other two Gullwings stayed hovering around Sora's head.

"Buzz off," Sora growled, burying his head in his pillow once more.

"That wasn't very nice Sora," Yuna said. "We thought you were a nicer guy than that."

"He's just having a rough few days," Goofy said, coming back into the room. He motioned for the Gullwings to come closer and leaned in, whispering. "He's lost his left arm, forgotten how to summon the keyblade, and broken up with his girlfriend all in one day."

"That's pretty rough," said Paine. "Especially on a kid like him."

"It's kinda, sad, you know?" Rikku said, looking at Yuna. She nodded her head.

"That is sad," she said. They stood, hovered, or floated there silently for the next few minutes, not realizing that even by just staying there that they were getting on Sora's nerves. Their heads jerked up when they heard voices coming from the hallway outside.

"Where's Sora? I haven't seen him in ages!"

"Ya, I want to know what he did this time, ya?"

Yuna and Rikku looked up suddenly at the sounds, surprise etched on their faces as if carved perfectly in stone.

"Is this real Yunie?" Rikku asked. Before Yuna could answer, three more people stepped into the room. Two of them were immediately recognized by two members of the Gullwings. The third, a girl, was a complete unknown to them. But Yuna's eyes hardened when she saw the girl and a boy holding hands.

Sora scowled and rolled over in his bed when he heard Selphie's shriek at seeing him again. "How's it going Tidus, Selphie, Wakka?"

"We're fine in Twilight Town," Tidus answered, looking at Sora as the boy lay underneath the covers. "Which is a bit more than I can say for you."

"Heard you lost your arm man," Wakka said. "Bummer ya? How are you going to Blitz now?"

"Blitz?" Tidus asked. "How's he going to fight?"

"Roxas and Naminé left with Cid earlier to find a mechanic who can make Sora a new arm," Donald explained. "But that's not all, he broke up with Kairi!"

"You did what?" Selphie shrieked in outrage. Sora rolled over again and planted his face once more into his pillow. Selphie snarled and was about to advance on the bed when a tiny voice interrupted her.

"Tidus," Yuna began, staring daggers at Selphie. "Who is that?" The three islanders halted and stared at the Gullwings in disbelief.

"Yuna?" Tidus asked. "Rikku? What happened to you? How did you get here?" Sora rolled over again and looked at Tidus, puzzled.

"How do _you_ know them?" he asked.

"How do we know them?" Wakka asked back. "How do _you_ know them?"

"How does everyone know them but me?" Selphie asked quietly.

"I don't know them," Aiwemon said while he still continued to beat his wings to stay afloat near the ceiling. Selphie looked up and shrieked.

"It talks!" she screamed, leaping onto Tidus' arm. The daggers in Yuna's eyes began to grow flames around the edges of the blades.

"We talk," Goofy said sheepishly. No one took notice of his comment.

"I ask again Tidus," Yuna said dangerously. "Who is SHE?" Tidus looked fearfully at Yuna and glanced back at Selphie, who was just getting off of his arm.

"Crap," he muttered. "I had hoped that this would never have happened. Huh?" His eyes were averted away from everyone else as a light began shining on Sora's bedside table. Everyone else began looking at it too, until a transparent boy appeared in the middle of the room. His brown skin was mostly covered up by a purple cloak and hood and a pair of green shorts. The pattern of the golden wheel that was on the Aeon Bahamut's back was embroidered into the back of his cloak.

"It's you!" Tidus said. "What are you doing here?"

"Bahamut," Yuna whispered.

"Lady Yuna," the boy said. "It is good to see you again."

"What the heck is going on here?" Sora asked in confusion.

"It's the fayth of Bahamut," Wakka said.

"I can undo the spell that was cast upon you, High Summoner Yuna," Bahamut said. "Consider it a repayment for defeating Sin."

"Don't thank us," Rikku piped up. "It was Tidus' plan after all."

"What's going on?" Sora asked. Nobody answered him, but a green light formed around Yuna, Rikku, and Paine, and they began growing, and growing, and growing. They grew for a few moments until the green light ceased, and the three Gullwings now stood upon the ground at full height of five foot eight. Tidus looked at Yuna in surprise, slowly pried Selphie off of himself, and bolted out of the room.

"Tidus!" Yuna and Selphie yelled simultaneously, both rushing after him. The fayth of Bahamut smiled and vanished back into the charm that was upon the table.

"I don't care anymore," Sora said. "Probably a lover's quarrel." He rolled over once more and dug his face into the pillow again, hoping that that was the last disruption of his day of pity.

"You have no idea," Rikku said, moving around the room a little. "Man, it's great to be my full size again."

"So what happened to you guys, ya?" Wakka asked.

Paine folded her arms. "Short answer, Maleficent." Wakka nodded his head slightly and placed his hand on his chin.

"No kidding? That witch's the same one we're fighting now."

"We know," Paine said. "The heartless under her control have attacked Radiant Garden several times since before Spira was lost."

"Which was when Maleficent found us," Rikku said, stretching her arms out behind her head.

"So..." Donald asked slowly, looking between Rikku and Wakka. "Just how do you guys know each other?" Wakka looked down at Donald for a second, and then glanced at Sora. He scowled and looked back at Donald when he saw that Sora's gaze was turned apathetically towards Aiwemon circling around the ceiling.

In truth, Sora was listening intently to every word.

"When Destiny Islands was destroyed the first time," Wakka began. "Nearly everyone else had become lost in the darkness. And when Tidus and I came back, we pretended that we were lost in it too, because that's what nearly everyone else was saying and we didn't want to look like we were crazy, ya?"

"So what happened then?" Goofy asked.

"Tidus and I ended up in Spira," Wakka said. "We showed up in a weird ruin, and had to fight a few monsters and make a fire, at least until Rikku and a bunch of Al Bhed showed up."

"We saved them," Rikku said nonchalantly. "And had them work for us for a little while. Then Sin attacked our ship and we lost both of them overboard."

"After that we showed up on a place called Besaid Island," Wakka continued. "And we met Yuna and her Guardians Lulu and Khimari, and their Blitzball team, the Besaid Aurochs. We left Besaid with the Blitz team, which left aboard the same ship as Yuna was leaving on."

"Why was Yuna leaving?" Jiminy asked.

"She was a Summoner," Paine said. "Summoners prayed to beings known as fayth, to grant them the ability to summon aeons, powerful creatures," she added, seeing Donald's confused face. "The boy that was just in here was the fayth for one such aeon, a powerful aeon known as Bahamut."

"Summoners went on a pilgrimage," Rikku continued, "to every temple in Spira, praying to the fayth in each temple to grant them aeons. Only after they had completed their pilgrimage, would a summoner be strong enough to defeat the creature known as Sin that constantly plagued and ravaged Spira. There was an organization known as the Crusaders that also fought against Sin to keep it away from Spira's people, but they could never have a hope of defeating Sin. Which is where the Summoners came in."

"But defeating or trying to defeat Sin wasn't all Summoners did," Paine said. "They also performed special morbid ceremonies known as the Sending. When a person dies in Spira, their soul stays in the body, envying the lives of living people around them. Even after the body has decayed, the soul remains, and the envy eventually turns into hate. There are creatures in Spira known as pyreflies, and they are a very mysterious phenomenon. It is believed by some that they are the representation of the souls of those who have died. If the soul of a person stays on earth too long, the pyreflies form into a fiend, whose sole directive is to hate and kill any living creature. The Sending that Summoners do prevents that. A Summoner performs the Sending Ceremony to send the souls of the dead to the Farplane, a place of peace for the departed. The living can even go to the Farplane, there was a gate to get there in Guadocanal, and see their dead loved ones. That is, they can go if Sin doesn't prevent them."

"Every time Sin was defeated there would be a ten year period of peace known as the Calm," Wakka added. "But the Calm would always end by Sin's re-emergence. Summoners, including Yuna, strove to bring the Calm to the people of Spira because it meant ten years of freedom from the fear of Sin. Every Summoner who defeated Sin was known as a High Summoner. Yuna's father High Summoner Braska was one of them. But the Calm couldn't be brought without a cost, ya? In order to defeat Sin, a Summoner had to reach the temple in Zanarkand, a city completely destroyed by a war thousands of years before, and receive the Final Aeon, which had the power to defeat Sin."

"But receiving the Final Aeon came at a terrible price, as we learned," Rikku said. "The Final Aeon could only be granted by sacrificing the life of one of a Summoner's chosen Guardians. The lady Yunalesca, the first Summoner to defeat Sin, and Yuna's namesake, was not sent to the farplane. It is she who awaited every Summoner in Zanarkand, and she had the power to turn people into fayth. She would turn the chosen Guardian into a fayth. But the Final Aeon is too powerful for the Summoner to control. And after being summoned, it kills the Summoner before proceeding to defeat Sin."

"But Sin was just an outer shell for an entity known as Yu Yevon," Paine added. "And Yu Yevon can take control and corrupt any aeon. So after the Final Aeon defeats Sin, Yu Yevon takes control of the Final Aeon and spends the next ten years forming it into a new Sin. And the best part is, Yevon was Lady Yunalesca's father."

"That's messed up," Goofy said.

"We know," Rikku said. "But none of us knew all of that when we started, and Tidus and Wakka were kept in the dark about Yuna dying at the end of her pilgrimage for most of the entire journey."

"After we got to Luca," Wakka said. "And we won the Blitzball tournament there with the Aurochs, we were joined by a former Guardian of Yuna's father, Auron."

Sora's head snapped towards them and he quickly shifted so that his legs were hanging off the bed's left side. His sudden movements caused everyone except Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy to jump, as they were just as surprised at the name of Auron as Sora.

"You've met Auron too?" Sora asked.

"Ya," Wakka answered. "He asked Yuna if he could be one of her Guardians, on the condition that she accepted both Tidus and me too. She did, and Tidus was very happy about it."

"Oh he was was he?" Sora asked with a slight grin.

"Ya, he was," Wakka continued. "We left Luca, and traveled through Spira, guarding Yuna on her pilgrimage. We met up with Sin several times, took part in a failure of a joint Crusader-Al Bhed operation to defeat Sin, and found out something about Tidus' father too."

"What'd you find out about Jecht?" Sora asked.

"He didn't actually die all those years ago," Wakka said. "He managed to wind up in Spira somehow, and was one of the Guardians to Braska. Weird, ya? Tidus' dad is a Guardian to Yuna's dad, and Tidus is a Guardian to Yuna."

"But that's not the worst part," Rikku said. She paused dramatically for effect, and during her slight disruption of the story Donald nudged Goofy and discreetly pointed at Sora. It was happening again. He was forgetting to be unhappy.

"Uh, so what was the worst part?" Goofy asked.

"Sir Jecht asked Braska to become the fayth for the Final Summoning," Wakka said. "So when we came around to defeat Sin, it was really Tidus' old man."

Sora's eyes went wider than he thought they could possibly go, and he suddenly felt no strength in his right arm as it and his legs went numb. He could barely feel himself hit the hard floor face-first, too overcome by horror. He couldn't think of a worse thing to happen to a person, being forced to kill their own father like that. He began to think, that maybe the pain he was going through, wasn't so bad after all. An arm wasn't too terrible a loss, and Roxas and Naminé had left to get a mechanic to replace it after all.

And, if Tidus and Wakka and Yuna were still here, than that meant that they had defeated Sin, and killed Jecht. And if Tidus could keep going on after killing his own father, why couldn't he keep going on after the death of his mother?

It was at that moment, when everyone in the room was huddled around Sora in concern, that the nurse who had been tending Sora happened to walk into the room. Her smile instantly evaporated, to be replaced by a stern frown.

"Visiting hours for Master Sora are now over," she announced briskly, striding purposefully towards the gaggle around the fallen youth.

"Wak!" Donald quacked in outrage as the nurse brushed him aside in an effort to help her charge back into bed. "But we still have hours and hours before they're supposed to be over."

"Maybe so," the nurse replied coolly, lifting up Sora's right shoulder while he hopped obediently into his bed. "But Master Sora needs his rest if he is to recover from his wounds and ordeals."

"But most of the damage to his body has already been healed," Aiwemon protested.

"Rest also heals the mind, little bird," the nurse replied once more, an edge of finality in her voice. Aiwemon ruffled his feathers angrily and looked expectantly at Sora, but he did nothing apart from apathetically gazing out of the window at the sky, once more becoming cloudy. Aiwemon drooped his head downwards and turned a pair of sad, green eyes away.

"Aw," Rikku pouted. "I wanted to tell him more about Spira."

"I'm afraid that you've excited him too much for one day and that you should all leave now," the nurse said sternly. "And let everyone else who wants to see him know that I will not admit any more visitors for the rest of the day." Paine nodded along with Goofy and Wakka and immediately left, Wakka barely hiding his scowl and Jiminy on Goofy's hat. Aiwemon dolefully glanced at Sora again, but was unable to meet his eye, and quietly walked out of the room. Rikku scrunched her face into a pout and muttered the word 'poopy' under her breath, but she too left quickly. It took substantially longer and with more emphatic demonstrations of her will for the nurse to get Donald to leave.

Sora sighed and raised his head for the nurse to fluff his pillow. "Why did you make them leave? It was my fault that I fell out of my bed."

_It was my fault for a lot of things_, he added privately.

"They excited you too much," the nurse said tenderly, her tone having taken a complete turn since Donald finally stormed out. "It was affecting your ability to recover. And you won't get any better if you fall out of bed onto your face."

"I guess you're right," Sora said heavily, looking out at the grey sky. He yawned, already starting to feel drowsy once more and wondering if being cooped up in a bed all day had something to do with it. The nurse almost seemed to sense him slipping away and tucked his sheets in, pulling the grey wool blanket further onto his shoulders as he slipped into the state in between consciousness.

Sora didn't know how long he was in that state of being asleep and awake, but he could have sworn that it couldn't have been more than five minutes before the nurse's angry voice started sifting into his ears. He was wrong as soon as he glanced at the clock on the bedside table as it sat next to his crest, digivice, and summon charms, and read 15:42, it had been fifteen minutes.

"Master Sora is not accepting any more visitors today," the nurse was saying. Sora looked inquiringly towards the doorway where she was standing. There was more than just the anger and irritation that she had previously held in her voice, there was fear.

"Please move aside," a deep voice said. "We must debrief Sora concerning his recent experience."

"Please move," said a younger and definitely female voice, "we don't want this to be difficult."

"I'm sorry," the nurse continued, "but Sora is resting at the moment." Sora let out a sound that was somewhat between an exasperated groan and a chuckle. He was quite surprised that she was being so protective of him.

The two people outside the door evidently heard him, as he saw the nurse being brushed aside to let them through. The first one to enter was a man in his late thirties. He was dressed in a sharp black suit with shiny black pointed shoes. A skinny black tie was over his white shirt, a silver tie bar set in the middle of it. His hair, jet black and short, was gelled forward into crisp spikes, and a pair of dark sunglasses covered his eyes. The second to enter was a woman in her mid twenties, dressed in a dark pinstriped suit. Her long khaki hair was tied into a knot on the back of her head, and her cinnamon eyes were crisply cut.

"Keyblade Master Sora?" the man asked, stepping up to the foot of the bed.

"Former Keyblade Master," Sora corrected in a small, but defiant voice. "I'm just an average guy now."

"An average guy who has fought and seen things that would freeze the marrow in most average guys' bones," the woman said with folded arms and a smirk. Sora glanced at her and she waved her arm between herself and her partner. "Agents Rachel Quin and Brad Write of the Federal Investigative Service Team."

"FIST," Agent Write said, extending his hand, to which Sora slowly shook, unnerved by the acronym. He then shook Agent Quin's hand. Agent Write looked at the nurse. "Leave us, we'll only be here for a short duration." The nurse looked fearfully at him for a second before taking some time to composer herself and leave the room.

"Why was she so scared of you?" Sora asked, pointing at the doorway.

"FIST has a reputation," Agent Quin said. "We're what you might call the Secret Service. An agency like that generates a little notoriety."

"I see," said Sora. Agent Write folded his arms.

"Now, down to business," he said whilst grabbing the only chair in the room and offering it to Rachel Quin, who took the seat. "We need to ask you some questions about your latest encounter with the heartless."

"Why?" Sora asked. "Nobody's formally asked me before. Who commissioned this anyway?"

"If you were an average guy," Agent Write began emotionlessly, "wouldn't you find it a bit fishy is the keyblade master and a princess of your world suddenly showed up in the care of a known enemy, beaten into bloody pulps, with the keyblade master incapable of calling his legendary weapon?"

"And as for who requested this inquest," Agent Quin explained, "that's on a NTK, Need-To-Know, basis. And you don't need to know."

Sora fell silent for a second, and Agent Write took the opportunity to pull out a tape recorder and set it on the bed. He and Agent Quin clipped little microphones onto their lapels, explaining that anything spoken into the microphones would be recorded by the tape, and gave one to Sora for him to clip onto the turquoise hospital gown he was in. It took him a minute, and eventually he had to ashamedly ask for help to put it on. Agent Quin got up to help, but tripped and fell onto the bed, her hands going to the frame to try and stop her fall. She got up flushed and apologized, embarrassed.

"Stupid," Sora muttered as Agent Quin helped him after her spill. "Can't even clip on a microphone by myself anymore. How am I supposed to do anything now?"

"How indeed?" Agent Write asked rhetorically as Agent Quin sat back down again, the microphone firmly fastened. He looked at her and she nodded. He bent down and pressed a button on the recorder.

"Now then," he began, "what happened to you and Princess Kairi?"

"Why don't you go ask the princess?" Sora asked evasively. He wasn't sure if he could trust these people enough to tell them. He hadn't told anybody what had happened yet, and as far as he knew, only he, Kairi, their digimon, Cossex, Hades, and Maleficent knew.

"She's busy at the moment," Agent Quin said.

"Oh really? Doing what?" Sora asked, opening his eyebrows in interest.

"Riding a chocobo," Agent Quin said, "still. She's been riding with your cousins for hours." A slight smile formed on her face as Sora smiled in response.

"Back to the question," Agent Write said, leaning back against the wall, "what happened to you and Princess Kairi?"

"We went to Destiny Islands," Sora said slowly, thinking it best to give them a bare minimum and play along. "Found that nearly all traces of Felra City had been erased and that a stone monument had been made by Cossex, commemorating and honouring every single person who had died or lost their hearts when it fell. We met Cossex there, and she joined our side. Then Kairi and I went to the little island we always used to go to with our friends. Hades somehow found us there, and he summoned Cerberus and a bunch of other monsters from the Underworld. We fought and beat them all and Hades. Then Maleficent showed up and engaged us after apparently watching us battle Hades. We were already tired and injured from the last battle, but we fought anyway."

Sora gulped slightly. "We lost, obviously, and my arm was taken by the powers of darkness."

"How so?" Agent Quin asked.

"It was hit by a bolt of darkness in the form of lightning," Sora said, wincing. "That's all there is to it."

"There's nothing else you'd like to tell us?" Agent Write asked. "Anything interesting come to mind like, say... how you escaped?"

Sora shrugged his shoulders. "I can't tell you that. I passed out during the battle and the next thing I remember was waking up in a f-, I mean a _fine_ hospital bed." He cursed inwardly at the near slip-up, but he hoped they might think that he simply stopped himself from swearing.

"I see," Agent Write said, "that will be all Master Sora." He leaned forward and pushed the button on the recorder to stop it.

"I hope it helped whatever you're doing," Sora said, taking the microphone off successfully and handing it back to Agent Quin, carefully, so he wouldn't fall off the bed again.

"We'll see," Agent Quin said, standing up. "We'll pray for your speedy recovery."

"Thank you," Sora said, his eyelids fluttering once more. "Can I go back to sleep now?" Agent Write cracked a very small smile, the first one Sora'd seen out of him in fact.

"Yes, go back to sleep young keyblade master." Sora watched them leave before sinking his head back into his pillow.

_What was that about?_ He thought before returning to the realm of sleep.

Agents Write and Quin stopped just outside the hospital in the middle of the street and looked at each other.

"He was hiding something," Agent Write said, folding his arms. "It was almost like he was protecting something, or someone."

"Protecting?" Agent Quin asked.

"Think of his character," Agent Write replied. "But it doesn't matter, the bug will tell us more. They want to pin this on somebody we can get our hands on, not just Maleficent."

"And what will happen if we get somebody?" Agent Quin asked her more experienced superior.

"They'll give us a pat on the back," Agent Write said, "then take whoever they get to court as soon as Sora's out of the picture to defend them. They want a scapegoat for this incident, more than just the heartless."

"That's vile," Agent Quin said, revolted.

"That politics," Agent Write replied cryptically.

-A-D-

_That's the end of the chapter people. Hope you guys enjoy it._

_Drop a review please._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	10. Kairi's Day Off

_And here we go with another chapter brought to you by everyone's favourite Canteen Sergeant Staff Cadet. And now that I'm back home, I can update regularly again, and type up the stuff I wrote while staffing._

_Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, none of it is inherently mine, nor will ever be mine. But now that I have a PSP, FFVII Crisis Core is mine, and Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep will be mine when it comes out. And I've beaten Crisis Core, but still don't know who the heck Cissnei is._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter X: Kairi's Day Off

Kairi exited the west wing of the castle in Radiant Garden excitedly, Sikora on her heels and Menelmon flying just behind her left ear. The castle's north-western end held the stables on the ground level, taking up a good portion of the grounds backing into the blue-rocked cliffs. Kairi's eyes moved to those cliffs, remembering times in her past when she and her brother explored them under her father's watchful eye. She shook her head, trying to clear the sudden memory from her thoughts.

"It's nice out here," Sikora said, her hands cupped behind her back and the tail of her raven hair swaying in a gentle breeze. Kairi smiled and nodded, looking around as well. They had exited the castle's keep through its western door, and the stables were further to their north. But to get to them they either had to manoeuvre their way through the castle's passageways, or stroll through the gardens. The three females had chosen the nicer rout, and were now amongst lush flowerbeds and trees.

Flowerbeds of any imaginable size and shape lined the stone paths that wound through the gardens and trees. Daffodils and lilies peeked their way up amongst groves of carnations and mums. Hyacinths and petunias of every colour made their homes amongst the stone benches and fountains. Lines of deciduous poplar, ash, and aspen trees divided the garden, drawing interest towards areas hidden by spruce's great boughs. Mighty oaks stood tall over benches to provide shade on the warmest, clearest days. The leaves were already yellow, brown, or red apart from on the very tallest of the poplars and oaks, which still clung onto the green of spring and summer, mating with the grey of the sky, apathetic to their waning life. Nearly every flower was in its late stages of budding, or right into full bloom to give the greatest effect possible before the autumn and winter chill could begin to bite, and the fruit on the few fruit trees there were was prime for picking. Small birds flitted in amongst the boughs of the trees and bushes, singing their songs in tandem with the chattering of a few renegade squirrels. Servants and gardeners could be counted on one hand as they moved amongst the bushes and beds, tending and caring for the plants like their own young, or slowly ambling along the paths as they made their way towards whatever duty awaited them.

Kairi slowly shuffled her feet as she made her way along the northern stone path. She did want to go riding, but the sights and smells of so many flowers and ferns astounded and amazed her. The Sun broke through the clouds for a moment and shone its rays down on her as she pressed her nose into a blooming blue rose. When she serenely withdrew, the light struck the dew within the flowers folded petals, dazzling her with a thousand tiny blue gemstones.

"It's beautiful here," Menelmon said from within the boughs of a pear tree. "I wish Aiwemon could see this." Kairi looked sceptically at her partner digimon.

"Aiwemon?" she asked. "If her were here, he'd be eating those pears that you're sitting next to without a second thought." Menelmon hid her giggle behind her wing.

Sikora took Kairi's hand, her eyes filled with excitement and anticipation. "Come on Kairi," she said, "we can look at all the pretty flowers later. I wanna ride a chocobo now." Kairi smiled at the younger girl's enthusiasm and shook her head slightly.

"When you're a little older," she said, following the tug of Sikora's gloved hand, "you'll want to spend a little more time revelling in nature's beauty."

"I already do Kairi," Sikora whined, nearly dragging the princess past a stone fish fountain, Koi swimming within its waters. "I enjoy its rugged, untamed beauty. That's why I go riding."

"I feel the same sometimes," Kairi agreed, adding more speed of her own to catch up to Sikora. Sikora glanced upwards slightly at her, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Kairi retaliated by gaining a competitive sparkle of her own. The shower and sight of the gardens had invigorated her, and left her feeling good enough to take on the universe. Menelmon swooped down on them, a smile evident through her snow-white beak.

"Race you there," she cried. With a great flap of her small wings she sped off in front of them like an unladen swallow, the air from each beat rippling the leaves and leaving waves in a nearby fountain. Kairi smiled even wider and remembered what Sora had taught her about magic when she was first learning. Magic was about envisioning it. She pooled energy into her legs and imagined herself racing across the stone path like a locomotive, her feet galloping over the terrain. Her speed increased, and she swiftly surpassed the already lagging Sikora. To a passerby, the young princess would have appeared a brown, blue, and red blur.

"Hey no fair!" Sikora yelled from behind, watching Kairi catch up to her partner digimon in jealousy. Kairi just smiled and turned a corner on the winding path as she made her way northwards. Menelmon was already winding around a looped section of path that bent around a fountain. Kairi grinned at the digimon's startled expression as she zipped right past, the wind from her magically quickened run buffeting the small bird. Menelmon put up a determined face as she levelled out and shot after Kairi with another powerful beat of her wings, but it would have all been for naught had Kairi not overshot the castle's northern corner, unable to turn ninety degrees at the speed she was travelling and unwilling to stop. Whether she was willing to stop or not really didn't matter for a person in her position, she needed to slow down to take the corner at any rate. Skidding to a stop in the grass, Kairi whipped her head around to see Menelmon making a tight banking turn to her left, Menelmon's right. Urging her legs that ached from locking and unlocking in a successful attempt to slow down to turn, Kairi sped off towards the wide, low gates that marked the main entrance to the stables.

Menelmon's slightly curled feet grasped the top of the wooden gates a third of a second before Kairi's middle finger brushed against the slats set into them.

Kairi glowered at the triumphant look her partner digimon held for a few seconds before she cracked a wide smile and let out a lungful of air in a rushing whoop!

"Did you win?" Sikora asked, huffing slightly as she rounded the corner, and getting Kairi and Menelmon into her sights.

"No," Kairi answered simply, arching her hands back on her hips. "But what a rush! I can't think of a time that I've had a better race."

"Well you're about to have a better one Kairi," Sikora said. "Because I'm going to put your chocobo through its paces out on those fields."

Kairi laughed. "I don't doubt it. Just don't make yours collapse in exhaustion."

"Come on Kairi," Sikora whined as the young princess swung open the gates to the stables. "Let's just get out there."

Ten minutes later both of the gates swung wide open and two tall canary-yellow birds raced out, Kairi and Sikora sitting comfortably in the saddles. The chocobos easily came out side-by-side, their wings folded in against their sides and their necks bent down. Five chocobos could have easily marched out of the gates abreast. Menelmon flew out right after, beating her wings to try and catch up to the bent neck of the chocobo on the left, and the girl in the brown jean jacket with auburn hair that kept getting longer.

There had been dozens of chocobos in the castle's stables, with enough stalls for at least eighty of the birds. Ten attendants had been in at the time, one for every eight possible chocobos, plus the stable master. Kairi had talked to the Stable Master, a tall and thickly built man with a trim brown beard, and found that his name was Cartel Charger. After a couple of minutes conversation with him, Kairi and Sikora had two of the four chocobos that Sikora and Victoria had brought to Radiant Garden led to them. Kairi didn't immediately recognize her chocobo until Sikora said its name.

Kairi pulled her chocobo, Beaky, ahead of Sikora's mount Sable and led the three of them northwards for fifteen minutes towards the walls that barred the northern cliffs off. The walls were divided into two sections, a front line wall that housed the gatehouse as well as numerous towers, and a second line wall, providing additional support as well as acting as a platform to reinforce the front walls and provide further defence in the event of a breach. The cliffs opened up from a ravine formed between them and created a funnel roughly two kilometres wide and three kilometres from the ravine's edge to the gates. The front line walls spanned the open plain in a stretched U shape. The gatehouse lay directly within the centre of the walls, openly facing the ravine in a direct straight line. On either side of the gatehouse three square towers were placed within the straight wall, a trebuchet placed on the top of each third order tower. After the square towers the walls stretched straight for another ninety-five metres before starting to bend slightly upwards and entering another tower, these ones circular. The bend continued upwards, the walls spanning more northwards now than any other direction, before they reached the front layer's final tower, another circular one that joined into the cliff's northern edges. On top of both sets of these circular towers were set powerful ballistae. The massive towers of the gatehouse were twenty metres apart, their solid wooden gates set perfectly within the wall in between.

The second line of wall was build two hundred metres further back. Set parallel to the gatehouse were two circular platforms within the wall, little more than half-circles added onto the already straight fortification. There was no gate between the circular sections; instead the wall was broken by an open archway through which the northern road passed. On either side were three square towers, identical to the towers in the front except that trebuchets were mounted onto of all of them. They were build farther apart than the front line towers, with only the second towers parallel as a straight wall connected them, allowing movement between the walls. Another square tower existed on both the western and eastern sides as the wall bent northwards again, another connecting wall spanning to it from the fourth order tower (the first circular tower) in the front line. The western tower was thicker than any other tower and merged with the cliffs, but the eastern tower was exactly the same as the others at a point of inflection, the wall levelling out and heading east before striking the cliffs. On each of these towers were more trebuchets, two of them on the greater western tower.

Directly behind the gatehouse and the first towers in the front line were more defences. Walls stretched a hundred metres south of each of these, joining into a line that stretched from behind each first order tower. Behind each tower and gatehouse tower was a circular platform, like the ones another hundred metres further south, a ballista mounted on each. Within the sections of wall in between the ballistae, with exception to the small section behind the gatehouse, an added platform jutted out twenty metres by twenty metres. The wall that spanned over the north road was also build with an arch set into it, clearing the road. Stairs were built behind the walls between the gatehouse and first order tower and between the second and third order towers in the front line, and between the first and second order towers and third and fourth order towers in the second line.

The walls themselves were twelve metres (forty feet) high, crenelations adding another one and one third metres in front of each wall, and three metres thick. The towers were an additional twelve metres high with the gatehouse towers twenty-seven metres high in total, three metres higher than the other towers. The walls that connected the two towers of the gatehouse though were twenty-one metres high, only six metres short of the towers. The gatehouse also supported an additional bulwark of stone in a half circle in front of their towers, sloping outwards in perfect smoothness as they made their way down to the ground. Arrow slits were set within all of the towers at three metre intervals as they grew higher than the main walls. The additional stonework within the gatehouse housed the mechanisms for unlocking and locking the gates, protecting it against any bombardment. A winch was set within each of the gatehouse towers, the mechanisms buried under the mountain of stone requiring only one person to turn the winch in order to unlock half of the gates.

The arching gates themselves were ten metres high and ten metres wide, the thick wood they were built with reinforced with steel posts and crossbars within the wood itself. They opened inwards, so heavy that they required at least five men pulling on each door to open them. Two great steel bars were set behind each of the gates, locking into stone mechanisms bored into the ground directly behind the doors.

Such were the defences of the northern gates that lead to the castle, and then the city. They were not really needed anymore, as they had been constructed in ages past when Radiant Garden was divided in bitter feud before the Talerith family was able to unite the people of the world into one kingdom and became the ruling family, making this, their city, the capital. Kairi and Sikora looked around at the fortifications in amazement, and Kairi wondered at the grey stones that defended this northern pass in their silent guard, flags flapping on the tops of the high towers. She had forgotten just how large and imposing they were, and they made her feel both very small and very safe.

The few guards and soldiers that the castle currently had, and the entire world for that matter, were not currently posted on the northern gate out into the cliffs, so Kairi sighed and dismounted Bucky. She jogged her way up the wall stairs and then half the breadth of the first wall section into the gatehouse and manned the eastern gate winch.

"Are you ready Sikora?" Kairi yelled, hoping that Sikora would hear her.

"What?" she faintly heard. "Oh, yeah I'm ready!"

"When I unlock them, I'll meet you down there so we can try to open the gates!" Kairi yelled. Kairi put one hand on the wheel, ready to turn it and raise the steel bars locking one of the doors in place when she heard Sikora's voice call from below.

"Kairi I have a question!"

"What is it?" asked Kairi, leaving her winch to head onto the joining wall and look down on Sikora.

"How are we going to close the gates again?" Sikora asked. "If we're both out there, how are they supposed to be closed and locked again?" Kairi looked blankly at Sikora.

Her face fell, and she slowly shuffled one foot in front of the other, scuffing her leather boots on the grey stone before she reached the exit to the gatehouse and returned to the outer wall. How could she have forgotten that the gates needed to be closed after they left? Who left the gates open when there were no guards to defend them? She couldn't trust herself to leave them open, when fiends and heartless probably prowled outside of the city. There were the claymores, but she didn't want to trust technology.

"It's madness," Kairi muttered when she mounted Beaky again. "There's an entire barracks in the castle and an entire floor dedicated to training soldiers as well as all of the eastern grounds of the castle, how many soldiers to we have?"

"Um, I don't know?" Sikora said slowly, turning the head of her chocobo Sable away from the gates.

"We have no Royal Bodyguard," Kairi hissed, glowering at the firmly shut gates, "twenty guards, and one captain, for the _entire_ world! They have to police the streets, man the walls, guard the prison even though it's empty, stand at attention in front of the throne room, guard the airbase and defend the twenty thousand colonists of the two new cities that Leon's told me are being built. TWENTY SOLDIERS!" Kairi roared in frustration, turning her chocobo eastwards.

"I know I'm good," Kairi muttered, Menelmon flying just shy of her auburn hair. "And I can hold my own in a battle and probably win, but I can't fight for hours on end by myself. The enemy have probably millions. The few of us can't beat millions on our own, and our chances are even lower with Sora acting as he is."

"I don't think that there's much you can do Kairi," Sikora said, her voice slightly shaken by the raw emotion behind Kairi's words. "But, we're safe here, now, aren't we? And are you sure that she has millions?" Sikora gulped at her last word, manoeuvring her chocobo into the large corral on the castle's eastern side.

"Nowhere is truly safe anymore," Kairi murmured quietly, a chill coming down her spine as she remembered Destiny Islands, and the memorial in which the names of those she had called mother and father had been set in stone. "Nowhere is safe, except perhaps Disney Castle with the Cornerstone of Light to protect it. And as for her millions, I pray that I'm wrong."

Sikora shook her head as her mount pawed at the hard dirt ground with its feet. Her raven hair frayed out of its well-kept tail slightly with the motion. "Maybe we shouldn't talk about this Kai," Sikora said. "You're supposed to be having fun right now, not worrying about stuff." Kairi gloomily dropped her head in shame as Beaky preened his feathers.

"I'm sorry Sikora," she said, dropping her eyes. "One thought leads to another, as they say, and I've been through a lot in the past month. The past three days though, they've been the worst. I never thought that anything so horrible could happen to anyone before." Kairi paused for a second, her thoughts dwelling on the moment in the hospital.

_Sora why?_ She asked herself silently. _Why did this have to happen to us? Why must our love be tested in this way? Are a Princess of Heart and a Keyblade Master just not meant to be together? Is this destiny intervening? And, if it is, is it mine, or yours?_ She remembered then the legend that had guided what had seemed like such a simple action to her at the time, and cast her eyes on the ground dejectedly.

_Those who share a paopu fruit will have their destinies entwined forever, through eternity. How could that be true? _Kairi chided herself. _It's only a silly legend about a fruit for hopeless romantics like Selphie after all. It doesn't really work. It was a foolish, childish thought that we'd always be together._

_But, I still want to be together._

Kairi came to with a start, as Beaky suddenly reared on his heels, flapping his wings and giving a shriek. Kairi worked frantically to grasp the reins and regain control, but it was out of her hands at the moment. Beaky charged forward through the corral, leaping over bales of hay and wooden hurdles without missing a beat or slowing in the slightest. Kairi abandoned the reins as flecks of dirt and dust flew up at her from Beaky's talons raking the ground. She flung her arms around the chocobo's strong neck, holding on for fear of losing life or limb. It was both terrifying, and in a strange way, thrilling. Like the thrill of battling the forces of evil, except buried deep down underneath the mantle of surprised horror.

Beaky snorted and skidded on the ground, digging in his feet and flapping his wings to slow down. He finally came to a stop a metre before the wooden fence at the corral's southern end. He hopped twice to turn himself around and let out a triumphant "Kweh!"

Kairi slowly unclamped herself from the chocobo's yellow neck, her eyes dulled from the shock of the wild ride and one hand absently working its way through her windswept and dirtied hair. Her mind barely registered that it was over. There came the sound of laughter from in front of her, but her brain barely heard it. Dulled and dazed eyes looked up, not quite seeing the figures of two more chocobo riders speeding towards her, or the smaller and swifter ice-blue bird.

"Kairi!" Menelmon said, reaching the young princess' shoulder ahead of the two chocobos and their riders. "I told him not to do it. I told him he shouldn't."

"You really should be more like Sora, Kairi," Sade said, reaching her now atop another chocobo. "Stop thinking so much, it confuses everybody."

"You really shouldn't have done that Sade," Sikora grumbled as she reined her steed in next to her older brother. "It wasn't very nice."

"No, but it was effective," Sade replied. "Besides, Riku and I spent the whole time we were with Sora arguing and I was able to come up with something while talking with the rest of his crazy friends. In all of his adventures, he never thought, he just did, and he won. Now that everybody's started to think about stuff, our side is losing. If he and Kairi just stopped thinking and started acting, everything would work out okay."

"That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard," Sikora retorted. "I know that everybody says and does stupid things, but to just not think about what they do has to be the craziest idea possible."

"It is not crazy," Sade argued. "If we followed our hearts instead of our heads, who knows what we could do?"

"Exactly," Sikora pressed. "Who knows just what we could do? We could bring about our own deaths if we don't think about our actions, or someone we care about might get really hurt."

"You're taking this too seriously," Sade huffed.

"You aren't taking it seriously enough," his sister countered. "Kairi's talk of millions opened my eyes. And face it Sade, all we know how to do is ride and raise chocobos, not fight on them."

"That's a soldier's job," Sade said quickly. "Not ours."

"That's your head talking Sade," answered Sikora slyly. "What does your heart tell you?"

"That it's a soldier's job," Sade repeated. Sikora glared at him in disgust as he turned his chocobo away.

"You hypocrite!" she snapped in frustration. "You know as well as I do that your heart is urging you to fight back against those who destroyed Felra, killing hundreds of our people. Yet you back away from your own advice like a coward!"

"You're the one who said it was stupid!" Sade snapped back at his younger sibling. "You're the one who said it was crazy and that I wasn't taking this seriously!"

"You aren't and you never do," Sikora said bitterly. "You don't even take fiends seriously, or the need of Riku, Kairi, our cousins and the worlds."

"You just like Riku," Sade argued, changing the subject abruptly. Sikora's face flushed.

"Riku is doing something to preserve all that we hold dear in the universe," Sikora answered. "And so are Kairi, and Naminé, and our cousin Sora and new cousin Roxas. My heart tells me to do something but my head holds me back. What are you doing brother?"

"Kairi?" Menelmon asked again, worry creeping into her voice. Sade and Sikora looked away from each other and at Kairi's still dazed face. She hadn't spoken a word throughout their entire argument. They began to worry if Sade had traumatized Kairi for life by giving her such a sudden, insane ride. He had thought that she could handle it. All of the hours she'd been on their chocobos when racked up had to equal at least a couple of months straight.

"Kairi?" Sikora asked hesitantly, giving her brother a sideways glare, "are you alright?" Kairi's face slowly panned towards Sikora's and the younger girl kept back a gulp at the vacant look Kairi wore. A few seconds that felt like years passed as a swift north wind blew down on them, faint drops of water falling from the overhanging clouds as they began spitting slightly.

One of these drops hit Kairi's cheek, and her hand that still clung lightly to the feathers of Beaky's neck came to her face to touch the drop of water. A look of realization slowly blossomed into Kairi's face, and with it a furious storm and sparkle of excitement came into her blue eyes.

"I'm doing that again!" Kairi screamed wildly with a laugh, rearing Beaky and having dash back into the north. Menelmon took off of her shoulder quickly, a perplexed look on her face as she flew after her partner.

"After her!" Sade roared with a grin that nearly broke his face in two. "She's gone mad!"

"Don't be such a sourpuss Sade," Sikora laughed, turning Sable to pursue. "She's just remembered the thrill of riding a chocobo faster than the wind."

"Well she'd better be careful," Sade said anyway. "After all, Beaky is _my_ chocobo." He dug his heels into the sides of his steed and set him off after Kairi.

Kairi's apparent madness wore off in minutes, and she laughed and joked with her friends and challenged them to trivial trials as people, both young and old, are oft to do, and as she had done before years ago. They rode around the corral for hours, the clouds only deciding to drop enough moisture to keep the dust level down, and by mid afternoon Kairi finally decided that she and her chocobo had done enough for the day (her stomach a contributing factor that weighed heavily in her decision to break).

"I have to wonder though," Sade critiqued as the four of them left the corral through its entrance to the north, "why are we backed up on one side against these cliffs? Wouldn't it be a little easy to attack the castle with siege weapons from them?" Kairi turned in the saddle to look at the cliffs of which he spoke. The blue rock, wet and slippery from the light rainfall, glistened and shimmered like the Sun's light on the sea.

"You'd think so," Kairi said, looking at the Eastern Ridge. "However those cliffs are nearly impossible to climb. The sides are nearly impossible to find a handhold, and the rock sheers off in almost perfectly vertical slates. Its virtually a plateau up there, and the only craggy path up to that ridge lies within the city itself. The castle's in no danger." She looked over to the west now, on the other side of the castle, to stare at the Western Ridge.

"The same is true with the other cliffs," she said. "On the castle's western side the cliffs barely reach the gardens before extending fifty kilometres further west in an unbroken line, not actually going much further south at all. And the only path to get up onto those high cliffs is in the Great Maw near Villain's Vale. And the Maw and Vale themselves are in a canyon to the south and west of the city."

"Pretty impressive cliffs then," Sade said, walking his chocobo back to the stables. "So how old is this city exactly?"

"I'm not sure," Kairi replied. "Maybe four, five hundred years? There are lots of paintings of former Kings and Queens and other people that were probably important in the castle. I'm amazed at how well Leon and the others have been able to restore everything in such a short amount of time since we took the world back from Maleficent." Sade and Sikora looked and nodded at each other, leaving their chocobos in their stalls. They nodded to the stable boys and followed Kairi out of the stables again.

"So we beat her before then?" Sikora asked slowly, waiting for Kairi's small, but important nod. "Then that means we can beat her again right?"

"Or we can at least deal with her," Kairi answered slowly. "She's a lot more powerful now than she was before, when Sora, Donald, and Goofy defeated her in the castle she built down in Villain's Vale."

"It's so radiant here," Menelmon said unexpectedly, fluttering through the gardens once more. "I can see why this world is called Radiant Garden."

"It wasn't so radiant when Maleficent had her grimy, clawed hands on it," Kairi said quietly. "I only saw a little of it back then, but it deserved the name it held of Hollow Bastion." Kairi stopped talking and Sade and Sikora shared glances with one another. Together they walked through the gardens once more before entering the castle through the door in the west they had exited from. Kairi led them straight down the corridor, making a left turn at the end.

"Where are we going Kairi?" Sikora asked as they made their way straight down another hallway. "I thought we were going to have something to eat."

"We are," Kairi answered, making a right turn at the end of the corridor. Actually, right was the only direction she could turn. "We're just going to take the Grand Staircase upstairs instead of one the two secret stairs in the castle." She stopped in front of a large set of oak doors, a torch and suit of armour on either side. Kairi pulled on the doors and stepped back out of their path.

"Here are the stairs," she said, smiling weakly at the awestruck looks on the faces of her companions. The white walls and stairs in the grand room glistened in the light perpetually cast by dozens of orbs set within standing stone pedestals, or wall mounted steel holders that clung to the walls. Armoured knights were on perpetual guard at every landing. Numerous paintings, tapestries, and weapons hung on the walls, many of them so far away from any landing that they had to have been magicked into position. The banner of the floral platinum shield hung down from the Grand Staircase's ceiling, the very bottom threads so high above them that it made the Islanders (Kairi included) feel like ants in comparison. Glass windows peered through the castle's thick walls on the second and third floor landings on the citadel's northern edge.

There were four landings. The stairs began in the room's east end and led upwards to the second level, where the stone landing stretched back above the heads of the group in a single span of stone to exit from a set of doors exactly identical to the ones they just entered from, except one level up. The stairs continued upwards around the edge of the nearly rectangular room in a counter-clockwise direction, landings at every corner until the fourth floor. The stairs stopped at the fourth floor landing, and even as a person could continue following the stone path to exit into the fourth level, there was a set of golden lifts directly in front of the landing, built into a trapezoidal alcove cut into the whole of the room. The lifts were the only way up or down an additional fifty metres to the fifth floor, and then another fifty metres to the castle's roof.

Kairi stepped forward, the smile she had worn now gone as she stepped past a standard of Radiant Garden on a golden stand. "Are you guys coming or what?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'm hungry." Sade flushed indignantly at his embarrassment for gawking and strode after Kairi. Sikora kept her face down towards her toes as she followed Kairi, but her eyes occasionally flickered upwards in awe. Menelmon alone remained unabashed, and quickly perched herself on Kairi's shoulder so that she could take some more time looking around at a place she knew that she would spend plenty of time flying around in.

Kairi paused at the landing on the second floor and peered through the windows at the sky. The broken clouds were thickening quickly, and the sky was becoming very dark with the threat of a thunderstorm later. As if just to enforce this threat, the dull roll of far away thunder entered their ears.

"You guys go on ahead," Kairi said, gesturing towards the door. "There's something I forgot in my room. You too Menelmon, I know that you're hungry. Maybe not as hungry as Aiwemon, but still... Don't worry I won't be long; I'll catch up." Sade and Sikora gave each other suspicious glances which Kairi didn't see. She bolted up the stairs to the third landing as soon as Menelmon had taken off of her shoulder.

Kairi shoved the third floor doors open with such force that they swung completely on their hinges, the brass handles clinking into the white stone walls so loudly that echoes could still be heard in the corridors a minute later if anyone was there to hear. Kairi quickly went to her left and opened the door on her left side at the end of the corridor: the door into the hallway that held the bedrooms, bathrooms, and sitting room for the Royal Household of Radiant Garden, which was at one time much larger than it currently was, the corridor holding eleven separate bedrooms including the Master Bedroom with its own bathroom suite, and two more bathrooms. The third floor also contained five more bedrooms for guests (one of which had previously been occupied by the Great Ninja Yuffie), quarters for the four chief staff (the Captain of the Bodyguard position vacant, this room was left without an owner when compared to the Steward/Head Servant, Head Chef, and Stable Master), quarters for the Royal Bodyguard, an armoury, a storeroom, a cleaning cupboard, and two additional bathrooms.

Kairi went straight and right, passing by the larger of the two bathrooms in the Royal Corridor, and turned right into the familiar corridor that ran north-south along the castle's eastern side, her room the third door down on her right and the bathroom to her back. But she didn't head to her room as she had said. Instead, she strode up to the nearest window, each step an effort, and not because of the ache in her legs from clutching the side of a chocobo for hours after so long without being on one of the animals. Her face fell, the sparkle that had been in her eyes vanished and her shoulders drooped. Her legs felt as heavy as lead and the crest that hung concealed underneath her yellow shirt was very dull.

Despair clutched her heart as she leaned against the empty arch in the wall that the window was set in. The storm clouds were gathering, but Kairi did not see them bringing rain and new life to the plants of Radiant Garden in this early autumn, even though a small part of her mind said that that was all they'd do. In place of the rain her eyes saw the hordes of Maleficent, the millions of silvery nobodies and nightmare black heartless shadows, eerie yellow eyes glaring out of the dark clouds.

And not only creatures of darkness and nothingness, as Naminé had once told her while Kairi lounged atop Whamon. Her ally, the White Witch of Narnia had many powerful beasts: Minotaurs and giants; ogres and manticores, and evil dwarves. And the Dark Lord Sauron apparently had legions of terrible orcs, trolls, werewolves, wargs, and wicked men. They had defeated Hades and some of his monsters, yes, but these other allies of Maleficent were still powerful foes to contend with, and the vile sorceress herself was still there, and her evil and dark power appeared limitless.

And what did their side have? Kairi asked herself. Six wielders of the keyblade, the keyblade master who had given up hope and could no longer find the courage to summon his legendary blade, a knight, a mage, and a small, strange, and hastily gathered group of young people with the will to fight, and only one of the group (Mulan) professionally trained to fight. She couldn't deny the skill of Tidus, Wakka, or Axel, but she had to shamefully admit that she wasn't trained either, and neither were Sora, Roxas, Naminé or Riku. They had all trained each other by sparring with one another, or practically tested on the field of battle, with occasional bouts in the simulator from time to time.

And as for real actual soldiers? The number she knew was laughable in something that was no laughing matter.

They weren't heroes, Kairi realized as her knees buckled onto the cold stone floor. Her head knelt against the wall, its coolness almost a pain to her forehead. They weren't heroes, not anymore. Their luck had run dry, their winning streak ended. Now they were targets and martyrs, drawing death and destruction to them. They would all die, Kairi knew, and anyone who fought with them would also die. She believed in her cause, Maleficent and the forces of evil should be stopped, but Kairi now believed that she could never be defeated this time. Maleficent had become too strong. Sora was right. He had fought her with her. But the digimon would never understand; they almost never despaired. But Kairi had lost hope of victory and found an answer to a question she had asked herself what seemed like an eternity ago.

She looked at her right hand as it rested on her leg. She sat back from the wall in a slump as another roll of thunder boomed through the hall, louder this time. The drums of doom across the universe.

Kairi clenched her hand and gripped the Oathkeeper with her leather-clad hands as she called it to her. She had a duty as a wielder, she had to heed the call her heart had answered. There was an unspoken oath she had to keep.

Hating her decision, yet feeling she had to do it, she dismissed her keyblade. Kairi's hands spun through the air, white light slowly being drawn out from her twirling fingertips. The tendrils of light flowed in an unseen current, mixing with each stream directly in front of Kairi's face to form a swirling orb. Kairi ceased her actions and hung her head for a moment, steadying her breathing. She sat there for a few minutes, the sphere of light illuminating her face as she tried to control her shuddering, halting gasps while attempting to summon the courage to actually look into the orb. She ran a shaking, yet steadier than before, hand over her face, composing herself; and another to her chest to hopefully calm down her racing heart. She opened her mouth to speak, but promptly shut it again. She found a determined edge in her face and eyes became as hard as the unrelenting sea. Forcing herself back to her feet in a ridged stance (the orb followed so that it was still level with her face), she opened her mouth once more and began to speak steadily into the orb, only one thought in her mind.

_Save as many as you can._

-A-D-

That night the whole gang, with the exceptions of Sora, Roxas, Naminé, and Cid, was at the Seventh Heaven for dinner, exactly as Yuffie said (to Riku's annoyance. Fortunately he found out that he only had to pay for himself and Yuffie. To his chagrin, she ordered the most expensive meal Tifa offered.) The whole group currently in Twilight Town had made it over too, even Seifer's gang. This meant that Tifa's bar was packed with Aerith, Aiwemon, Anar, Asterix, and Axel; Barret; Charlie, Cossex and Cricky; Dogmatix and Donald; Fujin; Goofy; Hayner; Isil; Jeffery and Jiminy; Kairi and Kia; Leon; Marlene, Max, Menelmon, Merlin, Mickey, Mulan and Mushu; Obelix and Olette; Paine and Pence; Raijin, Rikku and Riku; Sade, Sal, Seifer, Selphie, Shalua and Sikora; Tidus, Tifa and Tom; Victoria, Vincent and Vivi; Wakka; Yazoo, Yuffie and Yuna.

All in all, fifty patrons were in the Seventh Heaven including Tifa, Dogmatix, Jiminy Cricket and Cricky. Due to the number of minors in her bar, Tifa sealed the taps and corked the kegs. This decision was met with mixed emotions among the group. However, the two Moogles who were also at the bar didn't seem to mind too much (they were too distracted by Marlene and Rikku, who kept ruffling their pom-poms).

Riku flitted around among many of the conversations different groups of people were having. Flitted wouldn't have been the word he would have described it with though. It seemed to him as he sat on a barstool that everyone seemed to flock to the bar and congregate around and talk to him. He heard them whisper 'Hey, Riku looks moody. Let's go talk to him,' several times before appearing out of the blue.

He nearly smiled or laughed every time he heard that. He didn't think that sitting near the end of the bar with Kairi actually on the end just to his right a cause for him to appear moody. He actually enjoyed talking to them, but he just didn't want to make an effort to leave the bar and his supply of virgin drinks. However, to everyone else, he appeared anti-social, and at Selphie's urging, they mostly banded together in trying to make him a socialite.

"I'm sorry Hayner," Riku said quickly, realizing that the Twilight Town native was talking to him, "what was that again?" Hayner blinked twice before waving his arm agitatedly.

"Dude, how could you have blanked out on me like that?" Hayner asked, a trace of sarcastic bite in his voice. "I said that Mayor Urophi is starting up a training camp for new recruits to Twilight Town's military, and I'm planning on enlisting."

"As what?" Riku asked suddenly, setting his glass down and looking over Hayner with a critical eye. He was slightly startled by Hayner's statement, but not really surprised. He'd been itching for a fight against Maleficent ever since Sora and Kairi swung by Twilight Town, and now that he'd tasted battle, miraculously without getting seriously injured, he was hungry for more. If the boy could just wrap his head around his problems with authority, and shut his mouth, he'd probably do fine.

"An officer," Hayner stated proudly, thumping his chest.

Riku was glad he'd set down his glass. _Hayner an officer?_ Now _that_ surprised him!

Olette crossed her arms and stuck her bottom lip out. She, apparently, did not agree with his decision. "I still think you should reconsider."

"Olette we've been through this," Hayner said exasperatedly. They'd obviously had this discussion before it got to Riku. Riku took the opportunity while he was speaking in a slightly above normal volume to laugh quietly at the ridiculous idea of Hayner being an officer. "Our group has no direction, no actual mandate, no method or supplies. If we join the forces, we'd have a better chance when we're out there. Plus we'd get armour and actual military training."

"Besides Olette," Pence said from behind them. "Tidus, the others, and I are going to join too. We can't let Hayner go off on this harebrained scheme all on his own now can we? Even Seifer's gang is going to. Although, I'm not sure how Vivi might take it." Riku glanced around and noticed Kairi, eavesdropping to his right, doing the same thing. He spotted Anar and Isil playing pool, Kia hovering by Anar's shoulder and chatting pleasantly with him, one hand in the golden-brown hair by her ear. Tidus was with Selphie and Yuna; an exasperated and cornered look on his face while Wakka and Rikku hung back, sniggering. Seifer was with Leon and Aerith. Fuu, Rai, and Vivi were with Donald and Goofy (why, Riku could never figure out), and Charlie, Yazoo, and Jeffery were talking to Obelix.

He would never have imagined that any of them would get caught up in a war and join a military.

'What about your parents?" Olette asked keenly. Hayner and Pence both winced. She'd just torn a hole in Hayner's plan. "Have you told them about this? And what about school?"

"What about school?" Hayner asked as Riku shied away slightly from the conversation, noticing Kairi doing the same thing. Neither they, nor Sora had been going to school for a while. "School can suck my-"

"Hayner!" Olette snapped, her green eyes burning. Riku hastily busied himself with sipping his drink. Olette's eyes painfully reminded him of Maleficent's green fire, except darker.

"You really should watch your tongue Hayner," Riku said, coming out of his glass, "Especially if you really want to be an officer. No cussing during training. No back talk, no foul language, no insults."

"I wasn't going to say anything really bad," Hayner murmured darkly. Riku shook his head slightly and looked at Olette.

"What about you?" he asked. "Are you going to go along with this?" She smiled and lost the stern look on her face.

"You know how they said they were _planning_ to enlist?" Olette asked, ruffling Hayner's hair slightly with a hand, to which he didn't _immediately_ push away. "Well, it took some convincing, but I got my parents to agree in the end. I've already enrolled in all my school courses by correspondence, and actually have enlisted. My travel orders haven't arrived yet though, so I don't know when I'm going." Hayner and Pence looked at her with stunned expressions while Riku shook her hand.

"Congrats," he said, smirking at Hayner. "You're the first one, and a girl at that too." He almost chuckled as he saw the sting worm its way into Hayner's pride.

Olette giggled. "And it's not just me. Kia's also enlisted already; Selphie too. We all went together. Besides," she ruffled a hand though Hayner's messy tan-blonde hair, and he didn't even notice this time, "like Pence said, we can't let Hayner do this alone." She winked at Riku and twirled away. "Talk to you later Riku." Hayner and Pence snapped back to reality at Olette's sudden movement.

"Olette wait up! You've already- what? Why would you-" the rest of Hayner's words were lost as he got off of the barstool to Riku's left and vanished into the crowd.

"That was unexpected," Pence remarked quickly. "See you later Riku." He followed his friend into the crowd and Riku took another sip of his drink, shaking his head.

He heard Kairi give a prolonged sigh next to him and looked at her. She had changed back into the outfit he had first seen her again in, when he'd conjured a portal of darkness for her and Pluto to escape from Axel in. A white halter top with shoulder straps underneath a zippered pink dress that went down to the middle of her calfs like a miniskirt, a black band around her hips overtop, her black purse with the pink arrow ribbon pointing upwards attached to the band, and a black hood hanging behind her neck, attached in the front to the underside of the straps on her halter top. Why she had decided she needed a hood when there was nothing protecting her shoulders, arms, or upper back was unknown to Riku, probably because he had never asked her why.

Kairi was absently rolling the bottom rim of her glass around on the bar, her half-full drink coming dangerously close to spilling, and looking down slightly. She was biting her bottom lip and drumming the fingertips of her other hand on her bare leg.

Riku knew that look. It was the look Kairi had every time she was thinking about doing, or going to do, something she didn't want to do but felt she had the need to. He saw it most often on days when she had to write tests or follow him or Sora or Selphie or one of their other friends in doing something stupid that she didn't want to do. She never had that look when she was doing something stupid that she actually wanted to do with them (there was a different look for that, but it didn't often appear).

Before he could say anything though, another voice called his name. He turned his head to find himself looking at the cool, rock-like face of the Gullwing Paine.

"Is that seat taken?" she asked, gesturing at the now vacant seat on his left. She sat down when Riku shrugged and ordered a drink from Tifa, who had never left the bar but floated around it, generally talking with Vincent, Barret, and Yuffie on the other end.

"You're both friends of Tidus right?" Paine asked as she leaned back in her stool, looking slightly past Riku at Kairi. Riku glanced back at his best female friend, but she appeared not to be paying attention apart from giving a slight nod and picking up her drink to sip it.

"Yes we are," Riku answered for both of them, turning to look at Paine again. "Why do you ask?" Tifa got Paine her drink at this point and the red-eyed Gullwing took a sip of it.

Rotating her stool so she could look at the aforementioned teen, she raised her square crystal glass in his direction. "What's his relationship with Selphie like?" she asked, avoiding his question.

"As far as I know they're just friends," Riku answered. "Why?"

"Hn," Paine said, smiling slightly and closing her eyes. "So Yuna has nothing to worry about then."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Riku heard Kairi mutter. He looked at her with barely suppressed amazement and concern. Those were just about the first words he'd heard her say all night since she'd finished eating. Her face was passive however, and she was staring into the depths of her clear drink. "They are pretty close. I'd say that there was something there that was developing while you were gone Riku. Still, neither of them made a move before I left the Islands."

"Does Yuna have her eye on Tidus or something?" Riku asked, his eyes still somewhat on Kairi. Paine finished sipping her drink and held it lightly in her left hand.

"You mean no one has told you?" she asked. When she didn't receive an answer, apart from a shrug, she set the glass down on the wooden bar with a hard _clink_. She proceeded to tell him, and an absently listening Kairi, everything Wakka, Rikku, and herself had told Sora earlier in the day, before the nurse had ushered them out.

"But the main thing in their minds wasn't that Jecht was Sin," Paine said, nodding her head and motioning with her once more drink-laden left hand at Tidus and Yuna, "it was that those two fell in love."

"He fell in love?" Riku asked, surprised. He glanced back at Tidus. "I'd have never thought that someone would actually find love before Sora could get it around his head that he loved Kairi." The young princess' head jolted up and she almost spilled her drink at Sora's name. Riku noted that.

"So now you understand why he has that look," Paine continued, ignoring Kairi, "that look of a trapped and cornered animal. You say that he's pretty close to this Selphie girl, and may be falling for her, but now he's found the girl he used to love again, and found that Yuna's still infatuated with him. Maybe he's still in love with her, maybe not. Maybe he just loves her as a friend now. I can't say."

"But I will tell you one thing though," Paine said, standing up. "Yuna is the jealous type. You might want to warn Tidus and Selphie."

"Will do," Riku answered. "Thanks for the heads-up." Paine nodded and swiftly made her way over to a piece of wall to lean against, the drink still in her hands. Riku turned to look at Kairi, who had settled down once more. It troubled him that she was behaving this way.

"Kairi," he said. It was a simple statement, designed to attract her attention. It didn't work. He opened his mouth to try again, but stopped when a hand touched his hip. Slowly closing his mouth in irritation, and in uncomfortable confusion (a hand was touching his hip!), he turned to get a look at the new person he would be talking with. He glanced at the hand first, but seeing it gloved in white meant nothing compared to the big round ears of its owner.

"So I hear from Asterix that you are the new Wielder of Dawn, Riku," King Mickey said, motioning to Asterix as the Gaulish wielder stood beside him, only a few inches taller (not counting the wings on his helmet) than the mouse king. Mickey removed his hand from Riku's side and placed it on the barstool to give himself better leverage as he hopped over and onto it in a perfect landing.

"So?" Riku asked. "It's a power, just like darkness or light is. Hey Tifa! Could I get another one of these?" He held up his glass to show that it was empty.

"Sure thing Rik," Tifa said, smiling as she moved over to take his glass with a flourish, "One virgin crystal coming right up."

"Don't call me 'Rik'," Riku replied darkly as King Mickey and Asterix took advantage of Tifa's presence and ordered drinks as well.

"Yuffie calls you 'Rik', Rik," Tifa answered with a wink. Riku opened his mouth and gaped at her.

"Yuffie calls me Rik because it's the nickname _she_ gave me," said Riku, continuing their banter. "I only let _her_ call me that."

"You let her call you that?" Tifa asked, smirking and raising an eyebrow. King Mickey and Asterix smiled at each other quickly as they were momentarily forgotten and proceeded to continue listening in. "Nobody _lets_ Yuffie do anything, she just does it anyway."

"Well I call her 'Yuf' on occasion," Riku said as Tifa turned her back on him to fix their drinks. "Why don't you go over there and call her 'Yuf'. See how she likes other people calling her by the nickname I gave her."

"I thought you did that just to spite her for giving you your nickname?" Tifa asked, still with her back turned. Her hands flew about behind the bar, mixing different non-alcoholic drinks together to get the desired results.

"I did, but it stuck and she grew fond of it," said Riku.

"What about when you all call Kairi 'Kai'?" she asked. Riku shrugged as Tifa turned around, all three drinks on a small circular tray.

"We all call Kairi 'Kai'," he answered, glancing at her. She nodded slightly, a faint smile on her face as she listened in to the conversation.

"Well, here you go guys," said Tifa, handing each of them their drinks and taking Kairi's now empty glass from her. "Want me to top you up Kai?" Kairi's smile grew from faint to friendly and nodded. The smile that had been slowly widening on Riku's face got just a little wider as he looked at the smile on her face. It looked like she was coming around as Riku and Tifa bantered back and forth.

"What about you Tifa?" Riku asked suddenly. "Anybody special call you by a certain name?" Tifa stopped as she had her back turned to him, and he could tell that she was blushing a little.

"Not really," she said slowly. "But Cloud did once call me... no I won't say it."

"Ah come on," Riku laughed, smiling wider at the red cheeks on Tifa's face as she turned around, handing Kairi her drink.

"Minnie occasionally calls me 'Kingie' and I call her 'Queenie'," said King Mickey from next to Riku, who raised an eyebrow as he looked at his royal friend. "And some of the younger subjects like to call me 'The Mickster'."

Kairi and Riku couldn't contain their laughter for a second.

Somewhere in the bar, somehow Max heard that comment and raised his glass. "Hey everyone!" he bellowed, attracting their attention. "The Mickster's in the house! Long Live The King!" Despite the fact that none of them were drunk because Tifa wasn't serving alcohol, they all cheered and laughed raucously when Max brought his drink to his lips and drained it, and then followed suit with shouts of 'To the Mickster' or 'Long Live The King' or 'Long Live The Mickster'!

Riku and Kairi were included in that group that laughed and cheered 'Long Live The Mickster', snorting both before and after they drank, and laughing while Tifa went back to refill their drinks.

King Mickey sighed and his ears drooped. He had been the only one whose glass had not been touched. Asterix had slapped a hand across his shoulders from the barstool next to him, and had emptied his glass, toasting him with 'To the Mickster'.

"I shouldn't have said that," Mickey said, looking at his friend. Asterix smirked.

"You'll never live this night down because of that," he answered, a twinkle in his kind black eyes. They all got their refilled drinks back from Tifa just as she got a call from Barret at the other end of the bar.

"See you Rik," she said with a wink, moving over to the other group. Riku shook his head and took the first sip of his new drink. She had switched it up to something else, and it tasted better than before.

"Well sure Dawn is just a power Riku," King Mickey said, bringing the conversation back to the reason he had come over. "But that's not all there is to it."

"Hn," said Riku. "Somehow, I knew that you'd say something like that." He smiled and moved his steel-lilac bangs out of the way to look at the mouse monarch. "So what's so special about it?"

"Wait, _Dawn_?" Kairi asked sharply. "What are you talking about?" Riku could feel Kairi's blue eyes burning through his thick mane of hair and boring into the back of his skull.

"I- I didn't want to have to tell you Kairi," said Riku quietly. He could tell that her eyes narrowed behind him.

"Tell me what?" she growled in a low tone for her range. Riku was about to turn around to face her, when he remembered something. He took his right hand off of his drink, and quickly placed both his hands on his cheeks, smushing them together as he suddenly wheeled around to face her.

He knew he looked ridiculous when he did it, but after Kairi's stern face broke into a slightly confused, yet giggling, one, he decided he wouldn't have to kill Sora after all.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"This is how Sora told me I should face everyone," said Riku, removing his hands and chuckling slightly to himself. He kept his eyes on her and began rubbing the back of his neck slightly. His voice lost the mirth it had held when he began speaking again. "A while ago, after the rest of us went to The Castle That Never Was to rescue you guys, I went into the simulator aboard the _Highwind_. I went in to face off against a replica of the Charr heartless that Roxas had faced, which was identical to the one you had faced in the Pride Lands."

"You didn't," Kairi said, shaking her head slowly with one hand partially covering her lower lip. Her eyes had grown wide in horror.

"I was losing Kai," Riku said, holding her eyes even though it hurt to tell his other best friend that he had done it again. "And then Xehanort's heartless spoke to me, and called me inside myself. He offered me power, the power to defeat my enemies, the power to protect my friends and loved ones. All that I had to do... was accept the darkness again."

Riku gulped. "I did. But when I emerged, I defeated the heartless with ease. After that though, your spirit, and Yuffie's spirit within my heart, transformed it into Dawn; from darkness into light."

"So that's how it happened," Mickey said thoughtfully. "After Asterix told me that you were the Dawn Wielder, I had to wonder how you became that when you used to wield darkness."

"So," Kairi asked uncertainly, "you're still alright?"

"Yeah," answered Riku. "And Xehanort's heartless' spirit has stopped bugging me, mostly. He's still in there, but doesn't talk to me much anymore, which I count as a blessing." He turned to look at King Mickey. "Why did you wonder how it happened?"

King Mickey smiled at him. "Whelp, I'll give you two an abbreviated version of the tale since we don't have everybody here." He took a long sip of his drink and sat in silence for a while. Riku and Kairi sipped their drinks and eyed him expectantly.

The minutes passed and still the King said nothing.

"Your Majesty?" Kairi asked hesitantly. King Mickey still said nothing, lost in thought. Riku glanced at Kairi and was halfway through a shrug when the King suddenly began speaking.

"There are legends surrounding the keyblade. One legend that you have not heard of before is of the Wielders of Power." Riku sipped his drink in interest.

"There can be many wielders of the keyblade," said King Mickey. "But there are nine among them that are known as Legendary Wielders of Power. The nine wielders are divided into three groups: The Crown Star Wielders, The Shield Star Wielders, and the Rose Star Wielders. Each group has three. The Crown Star Wielders are the Wielders of Light, Twilight, and Midlight. The Shield Star Wielders are Dusk, Moon, and Star. And finally, the Rose Star Wielders are those of Night, Dawn, and Sun. The legend says that these nine wielders individually are among the most powerful wielders of the keyblade when at their full strength, and together they are supposed to be the key to unlocking the greatest power in the universe."

"We don't know what the power is though," Asterix explained. "All we know is that it would be immeasurable."

"Why don't you know what it is?" Riku asked hopefully.

"Because not all of the wielders have ever existed at the same time before," King Mickey answered dismally. "Balhafa was the last Wielder of Dawn, and he passed away eight years ago according to my ledger. He was the first of the Rose Star Wielders we'd ever seen. A Shield Star Wielder has never appeared, but the Crown Star Wielders we've seen in abundance."

"I see," Riku said, taking another sip of his drink. If he was apparently one of these Wielders of Power, he wondered who the other eight would be, if they would even exist in his lifetime. He'd have to think about this. He glanced at Kairi to see what she thought, but her face was turned back to the bar again, and her teeth were once more chewing on her lip. Riku almost let a groan escape his lips. The conversation had managed to get her thinking about whatever-it-was again.

"I'll fill you in more later," King Mickey said, also noticing Kairi and frowning slightly. "Once we have everyone together, I'll explain in more detail. Excuse me, but I need to call Minnie." The King of Disney Castle twisted around in his stool and hopped off. Riku watched him pull out a golden cell phone and walk into a secluded corner.

"Does he always do that?" Asterix asked Riku.

"Not quite," the teenager answered. "When we were roaming the Realm of Darkness together for a while, he certainly didn't have that phone. He wrote letters. And somehow, they always made it."

"He sure loves his Queen," remarked the bachelor, "I'll give him that." Riku nodded and Asterix looked behind him, hearing Obelix's familiar use of the word 'crazy'. "Uh-oh, it looks like the big lummox is going to start throwing his menhir around. Excuse me." Asterix was gone in a flash to try and get the situation between Obelix and Yazoo under control.

Riku put his thoughts about the Wielders of Power out of his mind and looked at the girl next to him. "Kairi."

She didn't respond, staring into the bottom of her once more empty glass.

"Kai?"

Still no response. Riku sighed and did his best to make his voice imitate Sora's.

"Kairi-chan."

Kairi's head snapped up and she fixed Riku with a glare of such fury that Riku winced and leaned backwards, nearly upsetting himself.

"Don't do that Riku," Kairi said icily. She quickly turned her gaze back into her empty glass. But the hostility was already spent. She seemed to wilt and rested her forehead in her right hand.

"Sorry Kai," said Riku solemnly. He paused for a moment. "Does Sora ever call you that?"

Kairi gave a slight sigh but didn't look at him. "Only in my dreams," she answered.

"Do you ever call him –kun?" Riku asked. He took a sip of his drink.

"Only in my dreams," Kairi repeated, softer this time. She turned her head and looked at Riku. "Sorry about snapping at you there."

"Don't worry about it Kai," Riku said. There was a short moment of quiet between them in which they could hear the _crack_ of the game of pool and the proud boasting of Mushu as he talked to Marlene, not to mention Asterix reprimanding Obelix for swinging Tidus around his head like a club.

Riku fished around in his pockets. He had gone shopping earlier in the day after his and Sade's disastrous attempt at helping out Sora (an adventure in itself. Since he'd been alone when he went out, he'd never known just how many young teenage girls flocked to him before. He must not have paid attention to the drooling gaggle that followed him at school). Finding what he was looking for, he gave it a quick squeeze in triumph.

"Hey Kairi," he said, attracting her attention again.

"Hm?"

"I know it's pretty late," Riku said, drawing the object out of his left jean pocket, "but we haven't actually seen each other for a while and I could never find a chance to get you anything, so..." he tossed the object, a small, yet thick, blue ball at Kairi and she caught it.

"Happy belated sixteenth Kairi," he finished, smiling. Kairi's smile was punctuated by looking at the present she was holding.

"A... ball?" she asked uncertainly. Riku laughed.

"A stress ball," he corrected. "You squeeze it to help you relieve stress. Basically instead of yelling your frustrations out into your pillow or at the people you care about, or if you're under a lot of pressure and feeling like the worlds are collapsing in on you, you just squeeze this ball. I thought you might need one," Riku added thoughtfully. Kairi smiled and leaned over to give Riku a hug, to which he gladly returned.

"Thanks Riku," she said, resting her head slightly on his shoulder. "I wish I had it before I snapped at you though."

"I thought I said 'don't worry about it' Kairi," Riku said, lightly pushing Kairi away. "Kairi, what's wrong?" Kairi immediately looked into his aqua eyes, almost fearfully.

"Wha-what do you mean?" she stuttered nervously, averting her eyes quickly and putting her free hand through her hair. "There's nothing wrong."

"Don't play this game now Kairi," Riku said crossly, watching her movements. "You know that all three of us do this dance when we have something on our minds, pretending that nothing's going on or that everything is fine. We may fool each other occasionally or we turn a blind eye other times, but not now. What's on your mind?"

Kairi bit her lower lip again. She had fidgeted slightly the whole time Riku was watching her, another sign of her discomfort. But Riku waited patiently for Kairi's answer. She always eventually told them what was bothering her, and usually Sora got the information first unless it pertained to Sora, in which case she would tell either Riku or Selphie first before letting Sora know anywhere from an hour to three days afterwards. Riku didn't begrudge this pattern of Kairi's, for even back then it was apparent that she was warmer to Sora than any other one of her guy friends, even though everyone including Kairi thought that she liked Riku.

Finally, she looked at him. "I want to see him."

Riku put his glass down. So that was it? "Sora?" Kairi nodded her head in confirmation and looked back down at her empty glass. Riku kept his eyes on her. "You really, truly love him, don't you Kairi?" Kairi looked up, startled by the suddenness of his question.

"Y-yes," she stammered, but her eyes clearly told Riku what her tongue slipped on. Riku nodded and took another sip of his one-quarter-full drink, his eyes now on the bar.

Sighing, he said, "I hope I'll be able to find love like that someday." He turned and looked at her once more. "Go."

"What?" Kairi asked.

"Go to him," Riku reiterated. "He needs to see you more than any of his other friends right now." Kairi hastily looked around worriedly. Many people had come back to the bar to get their drinks filled again after Max's toast, and they were still in the general vicinity, not paying the slightest attention to Riku and Kairi's conversation.

"What about-?"

"Don't worry about them, Your Highness," Riku said, giving her a smile and a playful shove on the shoulder. "You've barely talked to any one of my many visitors. And it _is_ getting late. I'll cover for you. If anyone asks, I'll tell them that you turned in early." Kairi smiled and hugged him again. She held the embrace for longer than Riku expected, and it was tighter than he would normally have been used to.

"You're such a good friend Riku," Kairi whispered into his ear. "Thanks." Riku smiled and patted her on the back.

"Anytime Kai," he said. Kairi pulled back and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. Riku felt his face grow warm.

"I'll stop by the castle first though," said Kairi, not noticing his blush. "I need to pick up a cloak if I'm going out to the hospital; it's definitely going to shower tonight. Wait," she stopped, finally noticing his pink cheeks, "you're blushing, why?"

"Because a beautiful princess who I used to have a crush on just kissed me," Riku answered as if it was the most obvious reason in the universe. But still, he averted his eyes.

"Riku," Kairi teased. "We're best friends. We can give each other a little peck on the cheek now and then when saying 'hello' or 'goodbye'. It's socially acceptable. Besides, do you feel any... lustful need to glomp me full on the lips in a desperate, passionate kiss?" Kairi giggled as Riku's cheeks turned a thousand shades of pink and red.

"Wha-no!" he answered, uncomfortably draining the last of his cold drink including the ice cubes in an effort to cool his cheeks down.

"Then stop blushing you sap!" said Kairi, whacking him slightly with her black purse before putting it back on her hip. She softened and placed a hand on his shoulder for a second. "Thanks again Riku."

"Don't mention it Kai," said Riku tenderly. "Just help him." He felt her hand leave his shoulder and his eyes followed her as she left. Her hand was still holding the stress ball he'd given her, but his eyes narrowed when he saw that her knuckles were clenched around it and white.

Riku drummed his fingers on the bar for a second. He looked at his empty glass, called for Tifa and ordered another one as thunder rolled through his ears. Yuffie popped up on the stool next to him that Kairi had just vacated.

"Hey Rik," she said just as Tifa returned with Riku's drink.

"You're over here now Yuf?" Tifa asked with a raised eyebrow, looking at Yuffie.

"Riku," Yuffie said sternly, "did you tell Tifa to call me that?" Riku took a sip of his drink and smiled at his girlfriend.

"Maybe..." he said. Yuffie scowled through a badly suppressed laugh and gave him a playful shove.

"My drink..." Riku said in disappointment, looking down at the little bit that had sloshed onto the bar when Yuffie shoved him. Yuffie laughed mischievously and sipped a little bit of her own drink. There was a slight clamour behind Riku and he looked around to see Asterix standing atop the bar, Mickey sitting at a stool just behind him.

"Asterix please don't," King Mickey pleaded.

"Too late Your Majesty," Asterix said before raising his voice, and his glass. "Friends, Gauls, Countrymen. Lend me your ears for but a moment. Tonight, we celebrate the coming downfall of Maleficent and the evil for which she stands. Sora may be out of the fight, temporarily, but we gathered here are still numerous and strong. We shall have victory, under the guidance of our great leader: His Majesty of Disney Castle, King Mickey Mouse, The Mickster!"

"Here here!" Riku cheered in the chorus, raising his glass with Asterix's. "To the Mickster!"

"And Riku shall sing us a song about our upcoming victory!" Yuffie yelled. Riku nearly choked on his drink as she slapped his shoulder.

"Riku?" Asterix asked with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe we shouldn't go there." They all laughed and Riku scowled through a smile even as more thunder _boom_ed.

He felt that it would be a very long night tonight.

-A-D-

_There we go. The first chapter back to regular updates. I hope you all enjoyed it. The action and suspense as to just what Kairi is doing is going to pick up for the next two chapters._

_Leave a review if you want._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	11. Hope and Despair

_I hope that all of you watched the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the IXXX Olympiad in Beijing. To my fellow Canadians, how the hell are we even supposed to compete with those in 2010? The Chinese spent one hundred and five million on the Opening Ceremonies alone, and we have only fifty-eight million to spend on __**all**__ of our ceremonies!_

_Enough of my Olympic Ceremony woes, they were great to watch!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or anything affiliated with this work of fanfiction that does not belong to me. Once again, songs are included._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter XI: Hope and Despair

The rain had just begun to fall in light sheets that blanketed the streetlamps into glowing orange hazes when Kairi reached the castle postern. Hastening her step, Kairi carefully steered her way upon the path that wound upwards towards the castle's western perimeter walls that enclosed the gardens, and stretched towards the northern side of the cliffs, forcing any foe from the north to break through the castle to get to the city.

Kairi didn't think about any of that though as she tossed the black hood on the back of her white halter-top over her dark hair. She was just hoping that the western gate was still open!

A lightning bolt forked its way through the sky, momentarily blinding Kairi and illuminating the white walls far in front and to her right side, and the blue cliffs to her left. She saw that the gates were open and broke into a run just as the crackling thunder deafened her. Bowing her head against the wind that began to buffet her, Kairi kept her eyes on the barely discernable path that her feet tread. There were flowerbeds to her left and right, bordering the path and backed against the cliffs and a part of the castle, respectively. Water flowed down the incline, splashing up her ankles as she sped into the streams, soaking her socks and making her purple sneakers feel squishy and uncomfortable. Her dress plastered itself to her hips and her white halter-top clung to her skin.

She sped through the open gates and leapt over a line of lilacs momentarily illuminated by another flash of lightning. The thunder roared in Kairi's ears, threatening to burst her eardrums with its intensity. She staggered the last leg of the way down the winding path, her hands clamped over her ears and her squinting eyes following the bright light of the orb lamps beside the door.

She reached it and pulled it open, sneezing and shutting her eyes with the sudden warmth and abundance of light in the castle's safe interior. Its white walls shone in the light of its many torches and magical glowing orbs. Shivering, Kairi leaned back against the wooden door and pulled off her wet hood. The rain hadn't entirely soaked through, but her hair was still damp and her bangs were drenched. The rest of her was, at the very least, wet and uncomfortable, and her shoes squished and squeaked when she moved them, the feeling of sitting water in them. If she was going to go out in that again, Kairi knew that she needed to be in something that would keep her dry. Shaking her head to clear some of the dripping water from her bangs, she went to the door in the wall just to her left and in front of her, finding a concealed staircase positioned exactly parallel to the one in the east wing. Climbing to the third floor, she weaved her way around the bend to her left, then up the open hall to her left again, before tip-toeing past the door to the stairs, as well as the wall on her right was the wall of Kensworth's room. She cursed her squishy, wet shoes for making so much noise the whole time. Finally, she gently opened the door to the corridor containing the Royal Family's living quarters, and just as quietly closed the door behind her with a soft _click_. Breathing a sigh of relief at not meeting a single servant and having to worry about their fussing, she made her way towards her room, stripping her pink dress and white halter-top off as she went and bundling the wet clothes up in her arms, pausing just long enough to grab a towel from the nearby bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later she was dried and in her white shell halter-top, skirt, and shin-high white boots. A heavy brown woollen cloak was wrapped around her, enchanted so that water would only bead on its fibres rather than soak through them. She had ruffled her bed and placed extra blankets and pillows underneath the sheets to give a good impression that she was sleeping.

Peering carefully through the door that would take her back out to the remainder of the third floor, Kairi held her breath. If anyone saw her, she'd end up in bed and would have to attempt again much later, something she did not want to do. The only problem would be in hiding, as there was so much light within the castle that there were barely any shadows.

She didn't hear anything but her own heart beat, which she felt was in either her throat or her pounding ears. With the quietness and caution of a tabby cat, she stealthily exited and closed the door silently behind her. Glancing quickly, and fearing that her breathing was much too loud, she started down the corridor, heading south this time. The less turns she had to make, the better. The fall of her booted feet was muffled by the carpet in the corridor's middle, and she desperately wished that she knew how to glide on air currents like Sora did, requiring no pixie dust at all. She passed by the doors to Kensworth's and then Helia's rooms, making sure she was extra cautious.

She was about to turn into the wide corridor that led straight towards the western wall, and also up towards the stairs so she'd used it before on her first run through, when she heard voices and muffled footfalls approaching from that direction. Her eyes went wide and Kairi's heart thudded loudly in her ears. Thinking quickly, she moved to the wall opposite and wrapped the light around her, making it move in unbroken lines from one side of her body to the other side from all directions. It was very complicated and required a lot of concentration, but she had done this invisibility trick before, and had even managed it while she and Sora were kissing. The footfalls and voices grew louder and Kairi held her breath. True, it had worked while she was kissing Sora in the New World, but she wasn't under as much stress then, nor was she anywhere near as anxious.

She clutched the stress ball Riku gave her tightly. Her heart pounded, and she wished that it would shut up. She swore that whoever was approaching should be able to hear it, it was so loud!

Two young male servants passed into her field of vision. Kairi gauged that they were probably in their early twenties, with the way they carried themselves.

"Did you see that show on Thursday Arnold?" the one on the left asked casually. "War something-or-other?"

"That Wartime Battlewatch thing?" Arnold asked. "Yeah, I saw it. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw that footage of Princess Naminé growing wings."

"It was amazing wasn't it?" the other servant said as they passed Kairi's invisible form. "But where did Sir Roxas go when that happened?"

"Oh, they interviewed him on the show and he said that he was turned into energy and actually merged with the princess," Arnold replied, stopping and looking at the other servant.

"No kidding?" said the other servant. "I must have missed that while I was in the can."

"Well you missed out on some good stuff then John," said Arnold. "I think he said that it was a Drive Form or something."

"Hey couldn't Master Sora go into those Drive Forms too?" John asked. "You know, like Valour or Wisdom or whatever?"

"Yeah I think he could," Arnold replied. "I think I saw him fighting heartless in the Bailey before it was fixed once. Yeah I did! I did see him fighting in the Bailey once!"

"You saw him fight up close?" John asked in amazement. "What was it like?" Kairi rolled her eyes and held back her frustrated grunt. These people were taking forever to move!

"It was awesome!" said Arnold enthusiastically. "A whole bunch of Armoured Knights and a few Crimson Jazz showed up with some Shadows. I thought that I was done for. And then he shows up from where the gates in the Bailey that led to the ravine and that creepy castle had been with Donald and Goofy. He sees me in trouble and then there's this huge flash of light! The heartless that were about to get me turn towards him, and he's standing there, completely calm, with _two_ keyblades in his hands!"

"Two!?" John asked, stunned. "I thought Sora only used one?"

"He normally does," Arnold replied. "But his clothes had gone from being all black and everything to red, and instead of just holding that white angelic keyblade that he used, he was holding a black one too. There were these weird red jolts of electricity that kept going around his body, and Goofy was surprisingly missing after the light. The heartless rushed at him, and he just stood there, calm as can be. Donald shot a bolt of lightning at one armoured knight that was moments away from hitting Sora, but still the keyblade master didn't move. Then when the next one came at him he jumped! Aw man, I had no idea that anyone could jump so high!"

"How high?" John asked, listening intently.

"Like, twelve feet!" Arnold replied enthusiastically. "And then when he came down he cut his white keyblade through the back of the armoured knight that had been in front of him, and then he moved on to each other heartless with Donald. He just kept going and going! Whack-whack-whack-whack!" He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know how he does it! I tried holding two swords once after that. Heavy things they are. But, it was so awkward! And he and Roxas do it effortlessly almost! They're crazy!"

"Maybe it has something to do with the power of the keyblade," John said. "Like, it grants them special inherent abilities or something, like being able to wield two long swords without being clumsy. So, did you actually talk to him?"

"Yeah! He came right up to me, he's actually pretty short, maybe only like, five-six, five-seven, plus he's just fifteen! But he came up to me, asked me if I was okay and everything. He told me that I should be careful. I said that I would, and then before he turned away I asked him about his keyblades. He just smiled at me and told me that the white one was called the Oathkeeper and the black one was the Oblivion. He said that he liked using the Oathkeeper, because it kept Kairi in his thoughts whenever he used it. The keychain on it was apparently a lucky charm she had given him the previous year in Traverse Town after he rescued her from Maleficent and his friend Riku, giving her heart which had been inside him back to her. And then _she_ rescued him after he turned into a heartless because he had done that. Kairi brought him back to the light. He was always smiling when he told me that. And then he told me that he was looking forward to seeing her again. He kinda blushed a little when he said that."

"That's sweet," John said, starting to move away down the corridor. "He must really care a lot for her." Their voices softened as the distance increased, and Kairi felt it safe to move again, particularly when the rumble of thunder penetrated the castle's thick walls to reach her even where she stood in the middle of the third floor. But she didn't move quite yet. She dispelled her invisibility spell and stood out in the middle of the corridor, staring at the backs of the vanishing servants. She was smiling and holding the Oathkeeper in her free hand, the stress ball in the other. There was moisture in her eyes.

She made the gardens without further incident. Gathering her cloak around herself and raising the hood, she stole into the worsening storm.

-A-D-

All was quiet for the night staff at Shinra Hospital in Radiant Garden. Most of the patients were asleep, or at least they were quiet in their beds. The storm raging outside hadn't affected anything. If anything, it had kept pesky visitors and stupid people who came in for something trivial like a muscle cramp or a slight headache or fever, out. The man sitting at the Admissions desk preferred it that way as he sat at his place, a pen scratching across a sheet of paper. If there had been any visitors, it would have appeared to them as if he was doing work. In reality, he was playing a game of 'X's and 'O's against himself, and losing.

The front doors _whoosh_ed open, bringing in the swirling wind and rain of the storm. The man at Admissions' eyes flared and he snapped his pen down angrily as he looked at the cloaked person who entered.

_Damn_, he thought as the doors slid closed behind the entry. _Some fool who was out in the storm has come in here with a simple cold or fever, likely. And now it's probably worse! Why is everyone in this city an idiot? Moogles are the only ones who never come here with problems, they _never_ get sick!_

"Can I help you?" he asked, forcing a fake smile onto his face.

"I'm here to see someone," the entry said. The Admissions man groaned inwardly upon hearing the voice.

_Of course, only a teenage girl would be foolish enough to come out in this weather._

"A doctor?" he asked.

"A patient," she answered. "Keyblade Master Sora."

"I'm sorry miss, but nine o' clock was two and a half hours ago," the man replied icily. He didn't care to be polite to idiots.

"I'm going to see him now," the young woman said forcefully. The man glared at her. A stubborn one, this one.

"If you really want to see him, you can come back tomorrow at eleven a.m. Until then, visiting hours are-" the young woman removed her hood and the man felt his tongue run dry and twist around the words it was trying to form.

"P-Prin-Princess Kairi!" he spluttered out, horrified at his previous actions. Next time, he'd be more courteous to the people who came in after hours.

"I'm going to see Sora," Kairi said, her tone matching his previous one.

"Yes, yes," the man babbled. "O-of course. Go-go on in." Kairi nodded once at him and swiftly passed his desk. Mr. Admissions gulped and prayed to whatever God that was listening that he wouldn't lose his job.

Kairi slowed as she moved down the hall, suddenly aware of just how loud her boots were on the hard floors even with the noise of the storm outside. There were other patients in here after all, patients who may not sleep as easily or as deeply as Sora did. She spotted the door to the room Sora was in and began moving towards it, not noticing his nurse approaching from the opposite side of the hallway. Kairi had just reached the open door (as were the doors to all rooms with patients in them) when the nurse intercepted her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked crossly. "I believe I said that I would allow no more visitors for Master Sora today."

"I need to see him," Kairi said tiredly, already weary of people denying her this.

"He is resting," the nurse answered sternly. "And Princess or not, Your Highness, I'm not letting you disturb his sleep."

"Clearly you don't know Sora," Kairi said, her eyes now shifting to challenge the nurse as a slight smirk formed on the corner of her mouth. "Our ship was once taking fire from an entire fleet of heartless ships and he still slept as soundly as he is sleeping now, in the middle of a thunderstorm." They both glanced into the room, and could even hear his snores above the heavy patter of the rain on the walls and his window.

"The nurse frowned and looked back at Kairi. "You won't wake him up," she warned. "If you do, Your Highness, I'll personally ensure that you don't see him until after he's discharged." She stalked away down the hall, and Kairi's eyes followed her for a minute.

_I don't intend to_, Kairi thought quietly, turning into Sora's room. He slept soundly in his bed, his remaining limbs spread out slightly so as to make his blankets messy, and wrapped around him in awkward angles and ways impossible to duplicate when awake. Kairi pulled up the only chair in the room and sat between him and the window. Her eyes were not on him, even when lightning flashed through the blinds on the window. Instead they were on her own hands and knees.

Her hands were clasped together, wringing each other uncomfortably. But she continued to do it as she bit her bottom lip again. She wasn't as tense as she had been back in the Seventh Heaven, the mere presence of Sora near her calmed her down and soothed her worries.

Her plan would work. She knew now that it had to work. It had to work. To save Radiant Garden and Twilight Town and all the other worlds; to save Tidus, Selphie, Hayner and all the others; to save Riku and Sora and Roxas and Naminé, it had to work. She only hoped that she'd have the strength to do it.

Still biting her lip, Kairi closed her eyes and gently took Sora's hand into her own. She was on her knees beside the bed now, one hand underneath Sora's, one above. She loved the sleeping young man beyond anything else, and after what she'd done to him, she wished that he would have yelled at her, or been angry. But no, he was too kind to be angry at her for something, and believed was his own doing, and too stubborn to believe otherwise. And he loved her too much to put the blame on her, to make her feel down.

But could he not see that Kairi wanted him to treat her equally? She knew that she had screwed up several times before, but every time Sora merely brushed it off and said that it wasn't her fault and continued onwards. He never criticized her, only praised her, and that made Kairi feel both let down and frustrated. She had tried to make him see, before, in Port Royal, but he'd obviously forgotten since then.

She wanted to wake him, then and there, and yell at him for so many things. For breaking up with her, for not truly taking her seriously, for letting despair reach his heart when he was the one who was supposed to be strong and she was the one who was supposed to despair (which she was), that at least one of them had to have hope. She wanted to yell and yell until her voice was hoarse, and then kiss him and tell him one last time that she was in love with him to the end of time.

She wanted to wake him, and instead of yelling, quietly tell him that he'd hurt her, but that she'd forgive him if he could forgive himself and place at least a little of the blame on her instead of taking it all himself. He may have been the one to suggest going to the Islands, but she had been the one who wasn't careful enough, not him. She still wanted to let him know one last time that she loved him, and that she'd always be with him. Kairi wanted... to get her Sora back. Any method of doing so was fine with her.

But she didn't try anything. She simply held his only hand with both of hers and watched him sleep peacefully with sad eyes. It would probably be the last time she'd ever see him again, and she needed to take all the strength she could from this moment.

A sudden thought came to her, something that she hadn't considered before. She smiled slightly and a bubble of hope rose in her chest, a bubble she knew no amount of darkness or despair could burst. She knew that it would be taking advantage of Sora's true nature, for a third time, but she'd place her faith and hope in Sora, and his ability to do the impossible once again. The place he held in her heart was the place of hope she'd just found. Her will gained strength as she thought of and looked at him, and she knew that she could now do what she was asking of herself. Maleficent would never be able to harm her heart again as long as she kept Sora and the faith she had in him within it.

She began to sing softly, so softly she could barely hear the words in her own head over the rain and occasional thunderclap. She sang a song that she had committed to memory, a song she felt at that moment was about them. She used to sing it often when she was alone; it was among her favourite songs: _Sanctuary_, by Utada Hikaru.

_In you and I,  
There's a new land,  
Angels in flight  
I need more affection than you know  
My Sanctuary,  
My Sanctuary, yeah  
Where fears and lies melt away...  
Music will tie  
I need more affection than you know  
What's left of me,  
What's left of me now..._

She gently removed her left hand from the top of his right, and softly moved his long hair away to look at his face a little more while the song escaped her lips in a soft expression of how she felt about them. He _was_ her sanctuary. He was the place where her fears melted away, and the music she was making tied them together.

_I watch you  
fast asleep,  
All I fear  
Means nothing..._

_In you and I,  
There's a new land,  
Angels in flight_

_I need more affection than you know_

Her hand slid away from his hair and cupped his cheek and the back of his head. She stared into his closed and peaceful eyelids while her gently rising voice serenaded him over the clamour of the storm outside.

_  
My Sanctuary,  
My Sanctuary, yeah  
Where fears and lies melt away...  
Music will tie_

_I need more affection than you know  
What's left of me,  
What's left of me_

_So many ups and downs  
My heart's a battleground  
I need two emotions  
But,  
I need more affection than you know  
I need two emotions_

She had no idea where their lives were going anymore. All the twists and turns in the past few days were enough to make her dizzy. But none of that mattered anymore as she looked into the sleeping face of the young man she knew that she loved.

_You show me how to see,  
That nothing is whole  
and nothing is broken..._

She didn't notice her head getting closer to Sora's, nor did she realize that her voice was becoming softer again, or that her other hand had left his and was cupped underneath his chin, raising it to become level with hers.

_In you and I,  
There's a new land,  
Angels in flight  
I need more affection than you know  
My Sanctuary,  
My Sanctuary, yeah  
Where fears and lies melt away...  
Music will tie  
I need more affection than you know  
What's left of me,  
What's left of me now..._

She was very close now, and her left arm was now wrapped around his shoulders, drawing them closer together. Their lips were mere centimetres apart, and still Sora slept.

_Ooh...  
My fears...  
My lies...  
Melt away...  
I... I need more affection than you know_

Kairi's song ended when her lips faintly brushed his. At that first touch, Kairi's nerves raced and she was compelled to deepen the soft kiss on the sleeping boy, to pour her love out to his mind even as he slept.

In a strange way, she detected him kissing her back in his sleep.

Her lips parted from Sora's sleeping ones, his snores far softer than they had been before she began. Kairi's eyes began moisten slightly, but she ignored them and rested her head on the bed beside Sora's.

"Come save me again," she whispered, too quietly for anyone to hear the words over the rain that thudded against the glass window. She felt something warm on her chest, and drew a hand down to feel it. Her fingers closed on nothing but the crest that hung on its slender golden string. It was warm to touch, and when she withdrew it she saw a faint blue light glowing from in between her fingers. Her eyes caught something else in the pale light, something metal on Sora's bedside table. She picked it up as well, and found it to be the small crown pendant that Sora had given her. Holding it tenderly in her hands, she glanced back at the clock, its numbers blurred slightly by the tears that clung stubbornly to her eyes. It was getting near the time she had to go. But a half-hearted glance at the storm outside, coupled with another look at the pendant in her hand made her decision for her.

She'd stay here a little longer.

Sora's eyelids half opened before swiftly closing again and feigning sleep. He knew that he didn't need to talk now, and neither did she. He was content with her just being here with him for as long as she felt able to; he had hurt her heart pretty bad after all.

-A-D-

A female servant quietly shut the door to the corridor of the Royal Family's living quarters behind her. Tonight was her night to ensure that those in the corridor, currently only Princess Kairi as her sister and her sister's love were away, slept soundlessly. And with the fearful thunderstorm raging just outside, the lightning falling so close that even the castle's thick walls could not keep out the deafening thunder in even the most secluded of rooms, the servant, Agatha, went about her task diligently. She was young, only coming into womanhood, but already she was gentle and caring beyond the experience of her short years.

Her blonde hair was illuminated further by a flash of lightning from the windows in the corridor, and she nearly upset a suit of armour when he ensuing roar of thunder boomed through the corridor. Straightening herself out, Agatha immediately made for the Princess' chambers, hoping that the thunderclap had not disturbed her slumber. As softly as the light the veiled stars would have been shining on the land had the clouds not blocked them, she opened the door.

The Princess' partner bird was not there, Agatha immediately observed. And the mass that was the princess was motionless underneath the thick red covers, obviously in a deep and restful sleep; not perturbed at all by the storm. Agatha smiled slightly and began to close the door.

She stopped when the door was mostly shut. She felt as if something was amiss with that scene. Carefully, she opened the door again.

Her brown eyes swept through the room again. The sleeping mass that was Kairi was still there, perfectly still. It took Agatha a few moments to realize the importance of this observation. When she did though, she swept into the room without a second though, haste driving her onward like the wind. She roughly placed a hand onto Kairi's shoulder, knowing without a doubt that if she was merely sleeping that she'd wake at the touch. She withdrew her hand in an instant, understanding at once that she'd been deceived.

Without another glance at the room she quickly went back into the lit corridor as more thunder rumbled through. Her heels didn't seem to register the carpet beneath them, still clacking away like she was walking on the white stone beneath the carpet.

Agatha left the corridor and went straight to Kensworth's room. She had the decency to stop for a second before she knocked, knowing that she must be looking aggravated at the young princess' deception. Straightening herself out and conforming her facial features into what she hoped was neutral, she patted down the brown uniform skirt she wore. Giving her head a quick shake, she raised a fist and knocked on the door.

Agatha heard the sounds of shifting blankets and moaning of a person who had just woken up when they'd much rather be asleep. However, she couldn't allow herself to feel guilty; it was her duty after all. The castle's Steward and Head Servant, Philip Kensworth, opened the door. He was in a long white nightgown with a pointed cap on his head and a pair of burgundy slippers.

"Oh Agatha," Kensworth said tiredly, one hand in his head to cover his eyes from the sudden light and glare in the white corridor. "What is it at this late hour? You know that it's nearly ten past midnight don't you?"

"I apologize sir," Agatha said briskly, "but I felt that I had to speak with you right away." Kensworth nodded his head tiredly.

"Yes, yes, what is it?" Agatha took in a deep breath, unfortunately allowing Kensworth's attention to wander slightly.

"The Princess, Kairi, is not in her bed," she said haltingly, "sir." Kensworth waved his hand slightly as he busily defeated a yawn.

"Then check the bathrooms Agatha," he said. "She probably had a little too much water at the Seventh Heaven with her friends and is having a late-night pee." Kensworth turned to go back into his room to sleep, the matter apparently too trivial for him.

Agatha took a step forward. "You misunderstand me sir," she pressed, causing Kensworth to pause. "I mean that she is not in her bed. I found blankets and pillows in it as a ruse. She's not there." Kensworth turned around slowly and eyed Agatha, all traces of fatigue and exhaustion gone.

"A ruse?" he asked. Agatha nodded her head in confirmation.

"Yes sir, she's not there." Kensworth swiftly went back into his room, and returned without his nightcap while hastily donning a wine-red robe.

"Show me," he said, already moving towards the corridor, the door to which she had left open. Agatha hastily followed after him. Slightly flustered, and unable to move as swiftly in heels, she arrived at the young princess' chambers after Kensworth, who stood ridged at the door.

"Wake all the other staff," he ordered quickly. "Search the castle. We must make sure that she is not here at all before deciding what action to take." Agatha nodded and left swiftly towards the first floor, where the servants and other staff slept. She started slightly while in the concealed staircase. There had been a devastating crash of thunder, as if a lightning bolt had actually struck the city. She hurried down the stairs.

-A-D-

Everyone was still in the Seventh Heaven at half-past midnight. Since the storm began, nobody felt comfortable leaving the friendly atmosphere of Tifa's bar, and she really didn't mind anyway. It meant more business for her. The only one who could be said to be upset was Barret. The volume was a little too loud for him to be comfortable while his little Marlene slept. Tifa took care of that though, bringing her up the stairs behind the bar to her guest room (the upstairs of the bar served as her house). After she was gently tucked away with Barret's supervision though, he had no more complaints.

Riku downed another one of the drinks Tifa kept making him, finally realizing that with all the ones he and Yuffie had had, it would probably cost him a lot at the end of the night. Yuffie was sitting next to him still, sipping a little brown drink out of her three-quarters full glass. Tidus was on Riku's right.

"So Tidus," Riku said, turning to look at him as he placed his glass back down on the bar. Tidus looked at him from above his milkshake.

"Yeah Riku?"

"I hear from a reliable source that you did not fall into the darkness like the rest of us thought you did when the Islands were destroyed," said Riku. Tidus smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah," he said. "Wakka and I got to go to another world, like you guys did. We just didn't talk about it because we thought that everyone would think it crazy."

"Sora, Kairi and I would have believed you," Riku answered. Tidus shook his head.

"You and Sora were gone for a whole extra year," Tidus reasoned. "And the rest of us had forgotten Sora completely. The only one who remembered him was Kairi, and even then he was just the boy she couldn't remember."

"True," Riku said, wincing. He had forgotten Sora too, even while he was working to help him. "But still, I heard something else about the time you spent in Spira."

"Really?" Tidus asked, shifting in his seat slightly. "What did you hear?"

"That something happened between you and Yuna," Riku answered. Tidus turned his head away, a blush creeping onto his face. Riku raised an eyebrow and followed his face.

"So it is true," Yuffie smirked, holding her glass in her hand.

"I don't know anymore," Tidus said, shaking his head. "It's been a year since I last saw her, and, for the first while, I did think about her. But now, I barely thought about her. Arg.. I don't know! What am I supposed to do?" He asked them. "Am I supposed to tell her, 'Oh, Hi Yuna! It's been a long time hasn't it? Oh, by the way, I'm not in love with you anymore, but we can still be friends right?' Is that what I'm supposed to say?" Tidus threw his arms up in the air in frustration.

"Follow your heart Tidus," Riku said keenly. "It's a great piece of advice." He turned aside and placed his elbows on the bar, resting his head in his hands. "I only wish the one I got that advice from would follow it himself." He heard the phone ring, and Tifa went over to pick it up from beside the cash register.

"Don't worry Riku," Yuffie said. "We'll get Sora back. He's not quite _that_ dense."

"Sometimes he is," Tidus said.

"That can be said about all of us," answered Riku. "No one is ever-" He stopped, as did all conversation when Tifa let out an exclamation. Her voice was shaking with surprise and fear.

"She's what!?" she said on the phone to whoever she was talking to. All eyes were on her as she listened to the other end. "No, she isn't here, but I thought that she had turned in early. Well then I don't know where she is. Well, Riku was the one who said that- oh, okay. I'll ask him. I'll call you back. Yeah, no problem... bye." Tifa set down the phone, and with her hands on her hips, turned to look at Riku.

The young keyblade master could feel everyone's eyes staring at him in confusion, the bar was dead silent, Aiwemon had even turned the jukebox off with a tap of his talons.

"Kairi's missing," Tifa said, removing her hands from her hips and folding them in front of her chest instead. "Care to explain Riku?"

Riku groaned slightly. He had hoped that this wouldn't have happened. "Give me the phone Tifa, I know where she is."

"Well then where is she?" Menelmon asked, suddenly appearing on Riku's left shoulder. Tifa brought the phone over to Riku with pursed lips.

"Can somebody get me a phone book?" Riku asked, avoiding Menelmon's question for the moment. Tifa brought that over too.

"What do you need the phone book for Riku?" Aerith asked. Riku began flipping through the pages.

"I need the number for the hospital," he answered. "She went to see Sora." He found the number and started dialling the number.

"Why didn't you just tell us that?" Yuffie asked.

"She wanted to go alone," Riku answered, bringing the phone to his ear.

-A-D-

Mr. Admissions glowered at the phone next to him as it began to ring. First the princess had come in out of the blue, and now his phone was ringing at thirty-two past midnight. He had hoped that after her departure it would become quiet again, but apparently now he had to deal with phone calls too. He reached out for the phone, pausing slightly to remember the lesson he'd learned when Princess Kairi suddenly arrived, and picked up the receiver.

"Hello, Shinra General Hospital, Radiant Garden, how may I help you?" he asked, his tone indicating that he loved his job.

He nearly gagged. Too much enthusiasm.

The voice of a young man came through on the receiver. "Hello, I'd like to speak to Sora." Mr. Admissions rolled his eyes.

_Another one to see that one tonight_, he thought irritably.

"I'm sorry, but Master Sora is currently unavailable to take calls at the moment. I can, however, take down a mess-"

"I'm Riku," the young man cut in, "and it's urgent."

The Admissions man did not bother to conceal his surprise, nor the squeak in his voice. "I'll connect you to his nurse's mobile," he said quickly.

"Thank you," Riku said before the man put him on hold. Mr. Admissions paged Nurse Ratchet and hastily connected the other keyblade master through. All the while he hoped that his job was not in jeopardy from his dealings with such powerful and influential people this night.

-A-D-

Nurse Ratchet stopped outside of the room of Sora. She peered inside just as another rumble of thunder rippled through the quiet city. Sora was alone again, and lying quietly with his head facing the window. She was about to move in closer, believing him to be awake, when she heard him snore. Satisfied that the princess hadn't woken him, or that at the very least he'd fallen asleep so quickly after she left, she turned to leave.

Sora grinned as he heard her retreating footstep over the rain. The fake snore was a perfect imitation of himself snoring that he had worked on for several months. Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy all knew that he snored in his sleep, had told him so several times in fact. He had found that he could use this to his advantage when he just wanted to lie in bed and think. And so he had recorded himself snoring one time, and perfected an imitation of the noise. He had found it very useful over the course of their last journey. After the first time he went to Port Royal, when he began to think of Kairi; their second trip to Twilight Town, when he had learned from Hayner, Pence, and Olette that Kairi had been captured by Organization XIII, after Saïx practically spat in his face that he would have to storm The Castle That Never Was if he wanted to see Kairi again, and finally when he daydreamed of dancing with Kairi in Halloween Town, just to name a few times.

Yes, it had helped him to conceal his nights were he stayed awake, thinking about the young woman and unable, or unwilling, to let his dreams and fantasies take centre stage. And now it helped him hide his conscious state from his nurse.

It was mere coincidence that his thoughts also happened to be centred around the young auburn-haired princess again.

He had told himself that it was over, that he couldn't protect her anymore. But he knew it wasn't over. He still loved her, and after her brief visit earlier, he knew that she still loved him. It had been a strange, soothing visit. He hadn't heard what she had said to him, or at least knew that she had said something but wasn't sure what. But whatever it was, it had calmed him, and was like a constant whisper in his ear, saying 'you can do this. Don't give up hope.'

He looked out past the glowing red numbers on the clock and into the falling rain in the darkness. He frowned. He'd seen many storms late at night before, and the numerous times that he'd looked out this window earlier told him that there were streetlamps on the other side of the road. But...

He couldn't see their orange glow.

The ring of a phone broke through his frown and he did his imitation snore again. Nurse Ratchet was still outside of his door!

"Hello," he heard her say.

"I need to speak to Sora right now," the voice on the other end said. Sora's eyes widened considerably. His reasons were twofold. First, he was amazed that she had the volume up so loud that he could hear it, and secondly, the serious voice on the other end was Riku's.

"I'm sorry," Nurse Ratchet replied briskly, "but he's asleep right now."

"It's important enough to wake him," Riku answered urgently. "Kairi's gone missing!"

Sora bolted upright in his bed, his sheer force of will keeping him from falling back down on his right side. His nurse nearly jumped three feet in surprise.

"Give me the phone," he said quickly.

"Sora you should be-"

"Give. Me. The. Phone," Sora repeated forcefully. The nurse narrowed her eyes and quickly strode up to him, her heels clacking on the floor with an angry cadence.

"She did wake you up," she said crossly, handing the phone over to him.

"No you tool, I woke myself up," Sora replied just as coolly, turning the phone's volume down and placing it to his ear. "And I enjoyed her company."

"Hey Sora," Riku began curiously, "did you just call me a tool?"

"No you idiot, I called Nurse Ratchet a tool, now what's this about Kairi being missing?"

"Nurse Ratchet?" Riku asked. Sora groaned.

"Yes, Nurse Ratchet. So what? What about Kairi?"

"That's the name of Big Nurse from _One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_," Riku remarked.

"Who cares?" Sora asked agitatedly. "What about Kairi?" He heard shouting on the other end, and it sounded like Riku was fighting a couple of people off of him.

"We got a call from the castle," Riku said quickly, it sounded like he was in pain. "She's not there, anywhere." Sora's eyes darted about in confusion while Riku told Barret to stop wringing his arm behind his back. "I knew to call you because she told me that she wanted to see you. Is she still there?"

Sora shook his head, even though he knew that Riku couldn't see him. "No, she left at like, five to midnight." He looked out of the window again. It was raining really hard, and apart from the bolts of lightning that kept streaking across the sky every thirty seconds, it was uncannily dark.

"Something's up," Riku said after a second's pause. "If anything she could have made it back to the Seventh Heaven by now. And she was pretty quiet tonight, like how she gets before exams."

"I'm going out to look for her," Sora said suddenly, part of his sentence being drowned out by the roar of overhead thunder. He struggled to get untangled from his sheets as Riku and Nurse Ratchet both began speaking to him again.

"No you aren't," they both said, guessing correctly his sentence and intentions.

"Kairi's in that alone when she should have made it back to someone friendly by now," Sora snapped back, enough bite in his voice to make even the nurse back down. "I have a very bad feeling about this."

"Sora," Riku began, but Sora cut him off.

"Riku, I'll be able to find her," Sora said. "Send everyone out to look too. Aiwemon and Menelmon will find me, and we'll find her together."

"Have you forgotten the reason you kept spouting last night about why you two couldn't see each other?" Riku asked heatedly. "When you do find her, and she's in trouble, what are you going to do?"

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it!" Sora yelled irritably, finally freeing himself from his sheets. He was about to turn the phone off when he heard Riku speak again.

"I believe you," he said. "Good luck." Sora paused and looked out the window into the storm again.

"Good luck to you too Riku," he said. "I'll meet up with you if I can. We'll find her together this time."

"You got it. See you out there Sora." The line went dead, and Sora tossed the phone over to Nurse Ratchet. He hastily got into his clothes as thunder roared, surprisingly quickly for only having one arm to use as well as a balance issue that was improving. He clipped his digivice on and slung his crest over his neck, beside his crown pendant. Shoving his summon charms into his pockets, he noticed that Kairi had taken the pink crown pendant and its broken chain with her. Frowning, he turned to go to the door, his body starting to compensate the weight distribution for the loss of a limb already.

Nurse Ratchet barred his way.

"Can you please get out of the way?" Sora asked, waving his arm impatiently.

"My duties are clear," she returned. "And I shall keep you in this room so that you may rest and heal."

"Do you care nothing for your princess?" Sora asked. She shrugged.

"There are others who may look after her," she answered. "Why must it be you?"

Sora gave pause, and stared at her for a long while, his mind spinning in circles, trying to find words to answer her simple question.

-A-D-

The storm harried the young princess as she sloshed through the streets, her pure white boots the only visible, and barely visible at that, sign of her underneath the brown cloak she wore. Her hood was up, and turned away from the wind, but that didn't save her face from the wind as it swirled and bit through her skin and the cloak's thick folds, stealing all of the warmth from her body.

Kairi shivered and tried to wipe some of the water from her cheeks and eyes, only for it to be replaced almost immediately by more hard, cold drops of water that stung.

_I must be out of my mind_, she thought, _but it's the only way_.

Stopping in an intersection, she huddled against a corner, trying to get a little more out of the wind. The rain came down so thickly that she couldn't even make out the form of the lightning bolt streaking across the sky. She shrunk down on her knees and retreated further into her cloak in a huddle as the thunder ripped through her. She felt her ears would burst!

When the ringing in her ears abated, Kairi turned her eyes skyward, ignoring the biting cold of the rain. She raised her right hand, and light flared from it three times, the signal she'd specified.

There came the distinct sound of a portal of darkness opening in the middle of the intersection, and Kairi turned to face it with cautious eyes. Her hood had blown off in the wind, and her quickly soaking hair clung to the sides of her face and neck.

Heavy footsteps splashed out of the portal and into the street. Kairi could make out eight figures leaving, in hard black and red armour. What material it was made of she was unable to determine in these conditions; and despite the fact that Janet had been Assistant Manager at a fabric store, her knowledge of the subject wasn't very good. She couldn't see any identifying insignias either, but six of the soldiers carried semi-automatic machine guns in their capable hands, and Kairi gulped when she saw that two of them held arm-mounted rocket launchers. The squad took up flanking positions on either side of the portal, the rocket soldiers in the rear.

Out stepped Maleficent, revelling in the storm she had entered in. And the fact that lightning had flashed and deafened Kairi the instant she entered worked quite well in her favour. Kairi shivered when she felt the dark presence of the being in front of her.

"Establish a perimeter," Maleficent ordered the soldiers. "I do not want this meeting disturbed."

"Yes milady," one of the soldiers, apparently their commander, said. "You heard her, move out! Two to a team, Heft, you're with me." His men nodded and they all immediately set about the task.

Kairi looked slightly at two of the soldiers that quickly passed down the road to her left. On their shoulders was a triangular-like insignia of what looked like a black scorpion's tail on a crimson background. The soldiers didn't spare her a glance from the red visors of their round black helmets.

"Maleficent," Kairi began apprehensively, taking a step into the intersection. She did not attract the witch's full attention however.

"But a moment, dear princess," the sorceress purred. She waved her hand and held out her staff, the green ball topping it glowing a sickly colour. Kairi looked around anxiously, and found that she could barely see anything outside of the intersection (not that it would have mattered much, having to blink the pounding rain out of her eyes every two seconds).

-A-D-

Not so far away, one of the floating spherecams used for Wartime Battlewatch detected the power spike on its sensors, and whizzed off for its source.

-A-D-

"Why did you request this meeting between us, dear Kairi?" Maleficent asked coolly, giving Kairi her full attention as her tone became sharper. "And without any of your precious friends around to protect you? My, my, you are taking quite the risk aren't you?"

Kairi held Maleficent's gaze, taking strength in the new hope that she'd found within Sora. "I've called you here on my own initiative Maleficent. None of my friends know about this."

"Really?" Maleficent asked. "How... intriguing. I should have at least expected your lapdog Sora to be here. He always seems to be at your heels."

"Leave Sora out of this!" Kairi snapped angrily. "I don't want you talking about him that way." Maleficent smiled, but held her tongue.

"Very well, Princess," she said, nodding her tongue. "We shall not discuss the keyblade master." Kairi sighed and dipped her head slightly, moving a hand to wipe a little of the rainwater from her face.

"I've asked you to be here," Kairi said, her voice threatening to crack on her, "to offer terms."

"Terms?" Maleficent asked slowly. "What sort of terms do you offer? Keep in mind, however, that I have already offered your pitiful King and sister _my_ terms, and they were rejected with hostility."

"These are my terms," Kairi began, her voice shaking slightly while it tried to make good on its threat. "That you leave the worlds alone, and do not step outside boundaries that shall be agreed upon by yourself and a coalition of good worlds, and that you spare the lives of Sora, Roxas, Naminé, Riku, Asterix, King Mickey, their kin and their friends."

"And in return?" Maleficent asked, a wicked smile forming on her lips as she noticed a gaping hole in Kairi's terms.

"In return," Kairi held, drawing it out as she glared at Maleficent. Her glare took every ounce of her willpower just to hold her eyes defiantly against the vile denizen of darkness'. Maleficent's eyes flared suddenly, and Kairi felt as if she'd just been punched in the chest and simultaneously slapped in the face. She wilted and turned her eyes away, falling back a couple steps towards the curb as her chest wheezed from the mental blow Maleficent had given her. The hope she had seemed very small as Maleficent quietly began to laugh.

Kairi forced herself to look up at Maleficent again, but there was no defiance in her blue eyes this time, only sad submission. "You get me."

Maleficent's evil cackle drowned out all other sound from Kairi's ears as a tear of defeat left her eyes and mixed with the falling rain. The rainfall felt softer for a moment, and Kairi could no longer tell if the clouds were of the angry storm, or were weeping for her.

-A-D-

_Once again, I place my life in the hands of fate. Please be good to me destiny._

_Drop a review if you should choose to._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	12. Rescue

_Fate has proven to be kind, and so I'm back with another chapter. I have decided to be kind, and so am updating today instead of Sunday._

_Disclaimer: (Insert some random comment about how I don't own any of this and am not making any money from writing it here)_

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter XII: Rescue

"That is quite the proposition, Radiant Princess of Radiant Garden," Maleficent said as her laughter subsided. "But, what would you have me do with you?"

Kairi knew that Maleficent was toying with her by the smile that was visible on her face. The mere sight filled her with self-pity and terror.

"Imprison me, beat me, torture me, kill me even!" Kairi replied shrilly, her voice an octave too high. "I don't care, just don't hurt them again!"

"Kill you?" Maleficent asked delicately, a finger to her lips. She vanished abruptly, and Kairi's eyes whirled through the rain and darkness desperately to try and locate her. She turned in fear as she suddenly felt Maleficent behind her, and her mouth and eyes opened in terror as she looked into Maleficent's livid face.

"You will die a thousand deaths at my hands before I let you pass into the afterlife!" Maleficent roared down at Kairi. Her free hand shot out and grasped Kairi by the throat. The young princess found herself unable to gasp, unable to breathe as Maleficent's cold fingers were clenched around her neck. Kairi's hands desperately went to Maleficent's single hand, trying in vain to pry the witch's fingers off of her skin. The pure darkness within Maleficent's flesh burned into her own, smothering the light within her. She found her hands, so desperately trying to make her free, hanging onto Maleficent's arm instead as her feet no longer touched the ground, Maleficent raising her above the sorceress' horned head. Kairi felt herself slowing, her mind becoming fuzzy as she could no longer feel the rain pounding against her head. Her eyes were dimming...

The next thing she knew, she was on the ground on the complete opposite side of the intersection. Her lungs and throat were choking out the completely useless air that had been forcibly restrained within her, trying desperately to give her fresh oxygen. Kairi suddenly became aware of a dull, throbbing pain in her back and the back of her head. Maleficent had thrown her into the streetlamp on the corner.

"You see, foolish Kairi," Maleficent said to the wheezing, pained princess of heart. "I currently have no place to put you, should I even choose to consider your offer." She began walking towards Kairi, her footsteps and the sound of her staff hitting the cobblestone road resounding through Kairi's ears. Kairi began slowly scuttling backwards onto the curb, not meeting Maleficent's eyes but still watching her approach.

"And, I'm sure that you'd prefer the dungeons of any of my allies over mine," continued Maleficent, smiling at Kairi's retreat. "I, of course, cannot have that. So before I could even contemplate accepting, my new fortress must be complete. As it is, it is barely begun, and even with my _entire_ army working on it, I cannot expect sufficient completion for at least two months."

"But..." Kairi began breathlessly. Maleficent turned her question into a cry of pain with a simple strike of her staff against Kairi's side.

"Do not dictate terms to me, harlot!" Maleficent raged. "You ordered my presence. You demanded that I listen. I have listened, which is more that you deserve, but you forget..." Kairi looked up at Maleficent, compelled to do so by some arcane magic, and she saw a horrible black shadow emanate from around Maleficent, in the shape of a magnificent, evil dragon.

_I shouldn't have done this,_ Kairi realized, too late. _I should have just let things be. This is nothing like my plan_.

"I have the power here fool!" Maleficent said. "Your light has been strengthened by your crest, but do you think that pitiful words in Quintessence that you do not understand or driving my shadow out of your body mean that you are greater!?" Her hand shot out once more and grasped Kairi's throat again. Her skin burned into Kairi's neck, making her throat want to emit a scream of agony.

All that came out was a whimper.

Maleficent threw Kairi up into the air and pointed the green ball of her staff at her airborne figure. A bolt of darkness crackled out and struck Kairi in the chest. The force of the strike sent Kairi careening towards the third floor of the brick building on the opposite side of the street. She cried in agony while in the air, and found herself breathless when her back crashed into the building. She twisted as she fell, and her back connected with both the street and the gutter of the curb, splashing into the water pooled on the ground.

Kairi turned herself onto her knees, coughing and spluttering while the back of her head throbbed in pain. Her stomach emptied its entire contents into the rain-filled gutter. She then felt herself being flung backwards to crash into the building's side again, and her eyes were forced to look fearfully into Maleficent's as they glared at her from the other side of the street.

"I reject your terms utterly Kairi," Maleficent said. "But because you so graciously offered yourself to me, I shall take your life now."

Kairi didn't doubt that Maleficent spoke true.

She felt the force pushing her against the wall stop, and Kairi crumbled onto her knees, still trying to take in breath.

"This will not be quick, bright Kairi," Maleficent purred. "It will be agonizingly slow and painful. I want to savour this moment, so you might as well fight back." Maleficent flicked her staff to Kairi's left, and the poor girl found herself being flung that way next, her shoulder blades the first part of her to connect with the wall of another corner building, her neck and head hanging out in the air while the rest of her body was pinned. Maleficent waved her staff again, and Kairi soared in the opposite direction, halting just shy of the other building only for Maleficent to alter the direction and slam the princess face-first into the road.

Maleficent calmly came to Kairi's prone form on the ground with a cruel smile on her face, and with one finger she undid the clasp that kept the girl's cloak on. The wind picked up, and the cloak was blown off of Kairi just as another bolt of lightning arched through the sky. The whirling winds and rain did not bother Maleficent, nor did the thunder or lightning. But Kairi's prone form stiffened as the biting wind and rain now assaulted her vulnerable body. Maleficent looked down at her with disdain. She had thought that Kairi would have lasted longer.

There was a flash of light and Maleficent flew backwards on a cloud of darkness that formed at her feet. Kairi was on one knee now, her face set into one of grim determination. The Oathkeeper was in her right hand after she slashed at what was now empty space, its white blade matching the white clothes she wore, despite the blood that ran down her neck and knees and mixed with the rain water.

She should never have done this. She should never have thought that Maleficent would bend to her will just because she was sacrificing herself.

Maleficent smiled widely. "Yes Kairi," she said enthusiastically as her staff glowed with greater intensity. "Come and die."

-A-D-

Riku handed Tifa the phone back and felt all eyes still on him.

"She's not there," he said quickly, swinging around on his barstool to look towards the door, "Which means that she must be somewhere out there."

"Why would she be out in that storm now?" Rikku asked, folding her arms. "Doesn't she know that it's dangerous?" Thunder crackled above them and Selphie and Rikku both jumped.

"There's something fishy about this," Axel said. "Got it memorized?"

"Yeah, like that Princess Kairi being out there by herself being fishy is something we'd have to memorize," Seifer drawled.

"You're still sore about her beating you aren't you?" Hayner asked. Seifer turned his head away.

"Tch, she's good. But she isn't stupid."

"And this is stupid," Mushu said.

"I'm going to look for her," Menelmon said, already starting to flap her wings to leave Riku's shoulder. She had just cleared it when Riku moved his arm out in front of him, forcing her to land again.

"Not alone you aren't," he said. King Mickey moved over to a window and peered outside.

"Riku! Asterix! Axel! Cossex!" he said quickly. "Come over here." The mentioned persons started moving towards the window where the King was at, the rest of the crowd following behind closely. They could barely see out of the window, like a blanket of darkness had unfolded across the city.

"This isn't good," Asterix said. "We've seen this trick before."

"You mean it's a trick?" Sikora asked. "Because it's been there for a while."

"What?" King Mickey asked Sora's relative sharply. "How long?"

"Since just after midnight I think," Sikora said, taking a step back. "But I had thought that it was just really dark outside." Cossex's amber eyes widened in alarm as she felt a powerful dark presence within the city. It had been there before, in the back of her mind, but now that she searched for it she found it easily.

"Our enemy is here," she said in a low whisper.

"It looks like we're about to have that victory sooner than you thought Asterix," Obelix said hopefully, rubbing his hands together. Dogmatix yipped at his heels.

"We need to find the princess kupo," the only remaining Moogle said aloud, floating at a height just above King Mickey's head on his purple bat wings.

"He's right," Leon said. "If Maleficent's here, we can't let anything happen to her."

"But she's a Princess of Heart, right?" Sade asked. "Shouldn't she be able to take care of herself?"

"Did you see us after the last time we fought Maleficent or not?" Aiwemon asked. "We were beaten! Flattened! Humiliated! Crushed like a few tiny bugs underneath a giant's boot!"

"Overdramatic," Fuu said, her lilac eyes following the brown and white bird digimon coolly.

"But he's right," Menelmon said sadly. "The four of us didn't stand a chance."

"Four didn't stand a chance," Riku said, quickly moving towards the door, "but maybe forty will!"

"I like the way he thinks," Axel said, his chakrams coming to his hands in a cascade of fire.

"Tifa, stay here with Sora's relatives," Leon said as every single warrior in the bar began to make preparations for heading out into the storm. "We'll need someone to look after them."

"And me," Rikku said quietly, hunched up against one of the parlours, her eyes fearfully on the storm outside. "I hate thunder."

"I thought you overcame that fear when you camped out in the Thunder Plains for a week?" Yuna asked. Rikku shook her head.

"Not _this_ kind of thunder and lightning," she whined, wrapping her arms around her knees and going into the fetal position.

"Leon," Tifa said from the bar. "I'm going to call Kensworth at the castle. I'll tell him we're going to search the city for her." She picked up the phone and frowned, putting it back down. "It's dead."

"Excuse me, mister..." Yuffie asked, standing next to the floating Moogle.

"Hekel," the Moogle answered.

"Hekel," Yuffie continued. "Would you mind going to the castle and informing them over there that we're going to search the city for the missing princess?"

"Consider it done, Great Ninja Yuffie," the Moogle said proudly, his red pom-pom snapping out high and erect. He flew out of the door into the storm first, already vanishing into the thick darkness.

Riku was about to follow him straight outside, but Merlin's voice stopped him.

"Wait a second lads," he said. "We'll all get lost and turned around in that darkness and the storm if we leave right now. Heaven knows we could run into a building a hundred times and never reach the end of the street it's on."

"So what do you suggest?" Max asked. Merlin withdrew his wand and gave it a complicated little wave. At once a dozen small, brightly glowing orbs of light came out and floated near the shoulders of several members in the group.

"These orbs should counter-act the spell of darkness that Maleficent has cast on the city," Merlin said. "With them, we'll be able to navigate the city streets and find Kairi, hopefully before it is too late."

"Then we should move," Vincent said. "Every second counts in this race." Riku looked up at the orb of light that hovered near his shoulder, and then back at Aiwemon and Menelmon and Yuffie behind him.

They left through the door in a general scrum, all of them trying to get out as quickly as possible as they bolted into the night, Merlin's magic lights clearing the darkness in front of them so that they could see.

"Aerith!" Riku called quickly, seeing her up ahead of him already. He saw her turn and come rushing back towards him. He continued before she could speak. "I have a feeling that we're going to be the first ones to find Kairi, and she may be injured. I want you with us to help her." Aerith nodded, conceding to his logic, and quickly joined his group. The digimon and Yuffie were not the only ones with him, Axel, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Mulan, and Mushu were also in his party. The others had all split up.

Back at the bar, Tifa was left to hold the Seventh Heaven until they returned, Sal, Sade, Sikora, Victoria, Shalua, Rikku, Cricky, and Jiminy Cricket left behind to await the news of their return.

Giving the bar and the friendly light in its windows one last look, Riku glanced at the faces of those he was with, already suffering from the storm. Taking a running step forward, Riku led them into the puddle-ridden streets.

-A-D-

"You ask me why it must be me?" Sora said, looking at Nurse Ratchet with subdued eyes. "The truth is that words alone aren't enough to express why I need to be out there to find her. It's a feeling deep in my heart. I know that it would be very hard to forgive myself if I willingly stood by while Kairi was being hurt. My body will be broken and my spirit sent to the Underworld into Tartarus before I not do everything in my power to keep her safe." Sora looked down at his right arm, and his empty hand.

"And if I don't have the keyblade to defend her with," he mused, "then I'll use whatever else I can get my hands on, my fists, fist," he corrected, "even."

Nurse Ratchet nodded. "Now _that_ is a good enough reason to make me turn a blind eye." She left the room and headed into the hallway to the right, the opposite direction of the entrance.

Sora blinked. He couldn't believe his good luck that she'd actually allowed him to leave like that. He bolted for the door, but crashed into its side. He may be able to walk again, but running minus one arm would prove to be a challenge. And he had a long way to go before he found Kairi.

Then he'd better adapt quickly.

-A-D-

Bolts of dark purple lightning shot from Maleficent's hand at Kairi as they still stood in the intersection. They crackled through the air and sizzled the drops of falling rain into faint wisps of steam to be swept away by the wind. Kairi leapt out of the way, but one of them still struck her in the arm, drawing a gasp of pain from her. Kairi panted and grimaced through the anguish the darkness put her through. She readied her keyblade in front of her, flames forming around its edges and boiling the rain as it fell onto her white sword. She slashed twice at the air in front of her, and the fire flew off in sickles towards Maleficent.

The sorceress took the blow, shielding herself from the impetus of the spell's impact with her black cloak. Kairi jumped right after she let loose her fires and descended upon Maleficent, her keyblade leading the way. Maleficent unfurled her cloak immediately after the second sickle broke around her and raised her staff to meet the Oathkeeper's descent. Kairi was held motionless in the air for a moment, her momentum halted by Maleficent's stroke. Maleficent shoved with her staff and magic, flinging Kairi up into the sky.

Kairi twisted around as she was sent airborne so that she still faced the dark sorceress. She raised her free hand and clenched it slightly, a ball of white light forming in her grasp. Her red hair flew about her in the wind and her fall, ignoring the added weight of water that had soaked into it. Just as Kairi's flight reached the point where she was no longer moving up and not yet down she pushed and unclenched her hand at Maleficent's standing figure on the ground. The ball of light shot forward and broke into half a dozen arrows of white light, their streaking tips blinding Kairi with their brilliance.

Kairi did a backwards flip in the air as she came down and landed in a crouch, panting. That last attack had taken a bit out of her. She looked up at where she knew Maleficent had been standing and saw nothing but a black ball of darkness. She knew it at once to be a shield, and was not at all surprised to see it dissolve away to reveal Maleficent, not harmed in the slightest.

She wasn't surprised, but she couldn't say that it didn't make her quiver.

Kairi shook her head and pointed the Oathkeeper up above her like a bat, gathering the air currents of the wind that wildly blew into its tip. She poured a little more of her light into the wind, and bent it and twisted it into a twister, having it spin faster and faster. Roaring, she swung it down at Maleficent, unleashing the tornado of light at her. Maleficent countered, spinning her staff in a circle and creating a black vortex that sucked the light in until the tornado had entirely entered. Kairi watched in dismay as her attack was transformed into an opposite tornado, dark lightning crackling amidst the winds that formed it. With a smirk, Maleficent sent it back at Kairi.

It was too quick for her to dodge, and the winds lifted her up with their force and slammed her into the side of a building again, the dark lightning making her scream in pain and jerk spastically.

She was still twitching when she fell into a large puddle on the ground again as lightning flashed in the sky above her, not knowing that it was only now that Agatha was about to first enter her room and discover her absence.

Kairi stabbed the Oathkeeper into the ground and used it to quickly prop herself back up, all the while glaring at Maleficent from underneath her soaking hair. She was panting heavily, each breath taking at least a second and a half to fully enter her lungs, while Maleficent hadn't even seemed to have broken a sweat. Indeed, for all the bruises, burns, cuts, scrapes and bumps that Kairi had blemishing her body, Maleficent had only a slight tatter in her robe where Kairi had managed to strike her, once.

Darkness pooled into a cloud around Maleficent's feet once more, and she rose a metre into the air, laughing and raising her hands to the sky.

"Meteors from Heaven," she cried, bringing forth the attack she had used on Kairi before during the battle with Devimon, "Unleash thy fury!" A swirling blue vortex appeared from behind Maleficent as before, and once more the meteors came through one by one. Kairi quickly dismissed the Oathkeeper and placed her hands together, concentrating. Her eyes snapped open and she shoved her hands out in front of her. A small ball of light rocketed out, the force behind it also adding a concussion blast into the spell. The ball of light broke right through the first meteor without slowing down, the giant, flaming formation of rock and metal disintegrating within moments in the concussion blast that rippled through the fragments. The light slowed and embedded itself within the second meteor just as it left the blue vortex. Cracks started forming on its surface as the blast broke into it, and hot white light started glowing from the inside.

The meteor exploded. The vortex, so close to the explosion, absorbed much of the energy, and it counter-acted the spell Maleficent had cast, causing the vortex to lose integrity and waver before disappearing entirely. Kairi remained standing, amazed at the results of her spell while Maleficent scowled at her good fortune.

The sorceress vanished in a blink of dark purple, and Kairi instinctively leaped further into the intersection, anticipating an attack on her back. Maleficent's staff barely grazed Kairi's side as the witch appeared, quickly arching her weapon at Kairi. The young princess didn't even notice the staff touching her, and turned around as her leading foot touched the ground to look at Maleficent again, her keyblade appearing in her hands once more.

Maleficent chuckled. "I must say dear Kairi, you are performing much better than I had anticipated. This is your first time fighting alone, is it not?" Kairi made no visible motion to show that she had even acknowledged Maleficent's words, but they troubled her deep down when she least needed something distracting her.

This _was_ her first time fighting alone. Always before she had been alongside Sora, or Riku, or Donald and Goofy, they had been there to protect her at all times and carry on the fight if she fell. Now though...

She gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on the Oathkeeper, ignoring the malevolent grin on the sorceress' face. There was nobody to fall back on if she couldn't handle it this time, nobody to help take the pressure off of her for even a moment unless Maleficent decided to pause, to toy with her a little longer.

Kairi pointed the Oathkeeper's tip above her head, green light starting to glow at the star at the blade's end.

Maleficent shadow-stepped again while Kairi's focus was not on her, she would not have her casting a cure spell in the middle of their battle. She placed her hand on Kairi's back, and Kairi's head turned so quickly that it hurt her neck.

"_Umûl norakonyë_," she said.

The next thing Kairi knew, she was in intense pain. She wasn't sure where, it seemed to her like a thousand knives were piercing her entire body, raking every single nerve into blistering agony. She didn't even realize that she had flown into the spell of darkness that Maleficent had cast on the city, and had crash landed in a pool of water resting on the roof of one of the buildings cornering the intersection where they had been fighting.

Her ears were split to pieces and light managed to break its way through the spell Maleficent had cast for a brief moment. Her body felt the shock ripple through her, and she could smell the ozone caused by a bolt of lightning striking the road below her and off to her right.

The pain was so extreme. She choked on the screams of anguish her throat wanted to issue. Kairi just wanted it to stop. She closed her eyes and bent her head into the water, deepening with every drop that fell from the unrelenting sky. She didn't even wince as they stung into her wounds. She couldn't even feel it.

She wanted the pain to stop...

-A-D-

Hayner moved quickly down the streets, the rain blinding him without as much effectiveness as the darkness had before it was dispelled by the ball of light hovering above and behind his right shoulder. Adding in the balls of light that also floated near Seifer's and Charlie's shoulders, the spell's power was increased, and was able to light up the surrounding area and penetrate the darkness to a much greater degree than just the one ball of light would have. At Hayner's sides were Pence and Olette, Pence just slightly behind. In front of him was Seifer, barely, Fujin and Raijin were just behind him, about level with Hayner if just a foot ahead, and bringing up the rear of their group were Charlie and Vivi with Yazoo.

Lightning flashed overhead and Hayner bowed his head, trying to get a good read off of Pence's watch. They'd been out searching for at least five minutes now, most of it at breaking speed while running, and they hadn't heard or seen a thing of Kairi. If she was in trouble, which she probably was, Maleficent would have made sure to make her presence known.

They paused at an intersection, looking around at the orange streetlights with apprehension as they silently debated which way to go next. Olette was shivering next to Fuu, none of them dressed to handle the weather. Seifer turned and looked at Hayner, the light by his shoulder holding steady as rain passed right through it and the wind blew around it, barely moving Seifer's drenched white cape.

"This isn't right," he said. "If we're going to be looking for this princess, we should at least have something to go off of." He looked away from Hayner slightly, having the same misgivings about their blind search. Hayner shook his head and looked for a sign to show that they were close.

-A-D-

Two of the soldiers that had come with Maleficent happened to be standing eighty feet further down the street from where Hayner's group was currently standing, completely invisible in the darkness. One was armed with one of the two rocket launchers, the other with a .22 calibre M-16 MK II automatic pulse rifle, a modified version of the standard issue M-16, faster firing, and more durable than its original model.

Both of the soldiers had readied their weapons against the group. The red tint of the visors on their helmets was part of a very sophisticated HUD, granting infrared vision. A special communication system was also built into the helmet, permitting units the ability to converse with each other and plan strategy, which is what the M-16 holder was doing now.

"Sir, this is Buckhold. We've got six armed and two unarmed, but potentially dangerous mavericks approaching. Requesting permission to fire. Over."

"Buckhold, this is Lieutenant Reld. Our orders are to follow Maleficent's directive until the mission is completed or aborted, at which point we are to return to base with her. If these mavericks appear to be hostile and may infringe upon our mission's completion, you have permission to fire. Reld out."

Buckhold nodded and turned to his comrade-in-arms, already aiming his arm-mounted rocket launcher at the group in front of them again. It interfaced with his helmet's HUD, allowing greater tracking and targeting accuracy.

They both knew that in the darkness, the rocket launchers were a bitch to reload, and the fewer shots you needed to get the job done, the better.

-A-D-

Hayner wanted his sign that they were close, he got it when bullets suddenly started to rain down on them, clattering on the cobblestones and splashing into the puddles.

They immediately tried to scramble out of the line of fire, but Charlie was able to get a fireball off into the darkness in the direction of the gunfire. It cut through the darkness, and lit up the two soldiers in its glowing red light before it passed right between them.

"Rocket Launcher!" Pence yelled. Nearly everyone in the group stopped dead when they both heard Pence's call and saw the rocket being launched towards them. The only one who didn't was Vivi, who quickly ran into the middle of the group.

"Look out!" he cried, quickly waving his arms around while his yellow eyes became glittering jewels in the blackness caused by the hat that never seemed to leave his head, even in the wind. He stopped waving his arms and thrust them outwards, a blue barrier suddenly forming a shell around the group. The concussion blast from the exploding rocket still shook them as the fires from the explosion filled their eyes, dimmed only slightly by the blue light of the protection spell Vivi had quickly cast.

The mage slumped back down on the group as his spell ended, wiping is brow with a wet hand. "That was close."

Nobody was able to congratulate him however as the gunfire swiftly opened up again. Seifer hastily grabbed Vivi and carried him over to the side of a building where they could find some cover with other members of the group.

"How are we supposed to fight these guys?" Hayner yelled from the other side of the street, taking cover with Pence, Rai, and Charlie.

"We could use you as a human shield blondie," Seifer suggested. "Unless you have a better plan."

"Oh move over," Olette said, pushing past Seifer get to the edge of the building. "Let a woman handle this." She raised her small staff, topped with a blue wizard's hat that looked remarkably plain. Crouching down, Olette poked her staff out in the direction of their enemies.

"Blizzard!" she said, watching as a large crystalline snowflake erupted from the tip of her hand-held staff. It sped towards their concealed foes, a bullet ricocheting off of it. They could barely hear it striking against the side of a building, freezing the rainwater flowing down it, and the scrambling of the soldiers to get out of the way.

"Pence! Charlie!" she yelled, looking over at the other mages.

"Gotcha," Pence said. He ran out into the open, his staff pointed down street. They heard shots being fired, and saw the streaks rip through the air all around Pence, but as soon as the bullets started appearing, so too did electricity crackle from the tip of Pence's staff. The white hot bolts sizzled as they twisted through the air, briefly lighting up the street and striking the ground quite close to where the two armoured soldiers crouched next to each other. Yazoo jumped out from behind Olette just as Charlie jumped into the street next to Pence, a fireball already streaming from the mage's staff.

Another rocket was launched from the second soldier, but in the light cast by the fireball that struck near the foot of the soldier with the M-16, Yazoo was able to get a good bead on the soldier who fired it. His pistol fired twice, striking the soldier in the left arm. The bullets only dug into his protective armour though, and did no damage apart from psychological. The missile was slashed in half by Seifer, quick on the uptake, and fell harmlessly to the ground in two sparking pieces.

"Keep pounding them with spells," Hayner said quickly. "We have to keep them from reloading long enough for Seifer and me to get up close."

"I still think that we should use you as a shield though," Seifer said, aiming his gunblade into the darkness and firing two fireballs from it.

-A-D-

A similar battle was taking place with Tidus' group. He, Anar, Isil, Selphie, Jeffery, Cossex, Kia, Wakka, and Yuna were with him as well, all of them holed up against the sides of buildings in another intersection, facing two soldiers armed with their M-16s.

"Great," Anar muttered next to his brother and Kia. "That's all we needed, human enemies with _guns_. Weren't heartless and nobodies enough?"

"And they're hiding in darkness," Kia murmured in agreement. "Yuna and I can't get shots off at them."

"It has to be because of the city's defence programs," Cossex reasoned from the other corner. "The claymores aren't programmed to attack humans."

"So we only have to deal with normal enemies then?" Tidus said sarcastically as a burst struck the side of the building he was hiding against next to Cossex. "Supernatural ones don't count."

"Hn," Cossex grunted, wondering. "You know, I'm a Nobody, but the claymores haven't attacked me at all. Maybe they are programmed to only go after the ones who do not have human form."

"Either way," Tidus said, "thanks for helping us out now." Cossex smiled slightly and held her axes easily within her hands, looking down at them.

"I believe these could use some exercise," she said. Tidus looked inquiringly at her, but then Cossex through herself right into the line of fire!

"What is she doing?" Selphie screamed. "She's going to get shot into ribbons!" They all watched, stunned, as the bullets from the two machine guns streaked towards Cossex as fast as the blink of an eye.

Her axe blades moved faster, intercepting every single bullet that would have connected with her and deflecting it harmlessly away.

"You're lucky you have a supernatural on your side," she said, still deflecting the bursts.

Jeffery knew what to do next. As Cossex kept their enemies busy by drawing their fire, he crept out from his cover. Kia and Yuna saw him from the other side of the street.

"Light 'em up Jeff!" Kia ordered. He was only too kind to oblige.

"Fire!" cast Jeffery, fireballs rocketing off of the tip of his weapon, bringing light into the spell of darkness. Rain vaporized on the smouldering magical projectiles, and puddles of water steamed as they smashed into the ground near the soldiers.

Yuna drew her two pistols and pointed them down at their enemies. "Keep it up!" she said, her fingers ready to squeeze the triggers as her eyes tried to adjust to the constant flashes of light down the street. The randomness of the enemy positions as they crouched or rolled out of the way as fireball after fireball lit up the darkness before being quickly extinguished impacted her aim, and after ten seconds she still hadn't fired a shot off from either pistol.

Kia, however, removed her bow from underneath her hunching figure as she tried to keep the precious wooden weapon dry and had nocked one of her silver arrows onto the bowstring. Pulling it taught to her ear, she strode out from her cover, her arm holding the arrow back as she searched for a good target. The bullets were still heading for Cossex, who was constantly moving back and forth across the street, deflecting them away from Jeffery, and now from Kia. The girl's arm strained as it continued to keep the bowstring taught, her eyes and arms trying to acquire a good fix on a target. In one flash Cossex moved out of Kia's front sight, and one of Jeffery's fireballs struck against the chest armour of one soldier. It smouldered there for a few seconds, its heat being absorbed by the polymers of the armour and the constant rainwater.

A few seconds were all Kia and Yuna needed. Yuna's twin pistols came to silvery life as their muzzles flashed repeatedly, her fingers jammed down on the triggers. Bullets flew out at a rapid pace, surprising all of them. Her pistols were semi-automatic! Kia's fingers released the arrow from her bow with a soft _thrum_ as soon as she got a fix on her target. The arrow sped straight through the hail of bullets that beat it to the target.

As with Yazoo, the bullets imbedded themselves in the armour, but the arrow pierced through into the upper left of the soldier's chest and he crumpled onto the ground, the arrow piercing his heart.

Kia fell back behind her cover again as the other soldier began shooting at her with his gun. Her cold, wet face was white as a sheet, and the colour seemed to drain from her golden-brown hair.

"Hey Kia," Anar asked compassionately, "you alright?" Kia shook her head with a slight whimper and allowed Anar and his twin to place comforting hands on her shoulders.

_What have I done?_

-A-D-

Sora pushed his way through the dark streets, blinded entirely in the darkness. He didn't know what was causing it or how it existed, but he cursed its existence anyway. He should have been able to see a streetlight or something from any distance, but the only times he was ever able to make out the glowing orange of the lights was when he was directly underneath of one, and those times didn't help him much as he tried to get his bearings apart from allowing him to point himself down the street, only to become confused and lost again as if eyesight failed him in the darkness. More than once he ran straight into a wall he hadn't known was there, and was constantly checking his nose to see if it was bleeding. A futile effort, as the driving wind and rain would wash away any of the hot blood before he could even feel it, let alone see the crimson colour in the darkness. There was also a shrill whistle in his ears that he felt was familiar, but carried by the raging winds.

Eventually Sora was forced to stick to the right hand side of the road, always leaning and pushing himself off of the buildings to continue moving forward without losing himself in the darkness, but it still didn't help him when buildings suddenly ended to be replaced by alleyways or intersections.

He hated those parts the most, particularly because they always sent him crashing down onto wet stone, or into a puddle, onto furthering the cause of his hair in its quest to become as heavy and laden with water as physically possible.

But no matter how many falls, he knew that he had to keep going. He couldn't stop now. Kairi was depending on them, and he'd need the help of Riku and The King and Donald and Goofy to find her this time.

He fell down once more, the already swelling right side of his face smacking into the cobblestone curb above the street at another intersection. His right arm was already moving to push himself up again when a dull rumble came to his ears.

Sora frowned as he pushed himself up. That wasn't the rumble of thunder, it sounded more like an explosion of some sort. He immediately thought of Kairi, and he walked quickly through the darkness, trying desperately to keep himself from falling over, or into the building on the other end of the street. His blindly extended and waving right arm found the building just before his face did, and Sora paused long enough to catch his breath. That one had been close.

He was about to shove off again and follow along the building's side when he noticed something strange. In the complete darkness that he still wasn't sure how it existed, he had abruptly seen a light shining against the building at his hip level. He could even make out the individual reddish-brown bricks that formed it.

The light was coming from his digivice, he realized. Quickly leaning against the building's side, he snatched the digital device off of his belt and stared at it in fascination. The whistling he had heard in his ears wasn't just from the wind; it was also from the beeps that his digivice was making, he just had been unable to sort out the sound. On the tiny display screen it showed a tiny map of the area, two small purple dots prominently displayed. One of them was steady and displayed in the centre, and he took that one to be his position.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the other, winking, one corresponded to Kairi's digivice.

He smiled grimly and clutched the small white device in his hand. He knew where Kairi was, and he knew how to find her. His only remaining question was how to get there without killing himself in the process. Deciding not to worry about that issue right now, Sora shoved off and continued down the building's right side, is right hand pressed against the wall and sliding down it. The faint light from his digivice gave him some comfort in the darkness, not much, but enough.

He slowed, noticing that he was gradually becoming able to see a little more. Not colours yet, but general shapes and outlines. He stopped entirely, puzzling as he strained to think over a roar of thunder, the flash of lightning directly overhead startling him with its sudden light.

"Hey Sora!" The former keyblade master turned around quickly.

"Riku!" he yelled in greeting. This was perfect! Riku could help him get to Kairi in time. He waited as Riku ran towards him, a ball of light shining and hovering near Riku's shoulder, and smiled as he saw the people he had with him.

"Howdy Sora," Goofy said. "How you doing this fine night?" Sora couldn't help but laugh a little. Goofy's shield was over his head to protect him from the rain.

"You're alright Keys?" Menelmon asked, flapping her wings repeatedly to stay airborne in the swirling winds. Sora smiled at the inquisitive looks of everyone but Riku and Aiwemon.

"I'm fine, a little cold and wet, but apart from that I'm good," he answered the two questions quickly. "But I've got better news than that. Take a look at this." He leaned against the side of the building and showed them his digivice, telling them his suspicions.

"We'd better hurry to this position then," King Mickey said.

"Yeah!" quacked Donald. "Maleficent's here!" Sora felt his eyes bulge as he quickened his pace to keep up with the others as they started moving.

"Maleficent!" he said in surprise, pausing only slightly as Aerith helped him keep his balance so he could run. "How do you know that?"

"Can't you feel her presence Sora?" Riku asked. Sora was silent for a second.

"Well now that you mention it, yes! I just wasn't paying attention."

"Neither were we," King Mickey admitted. "Otherwise we would have realised that she was here half an hour ago." Sora stumbled on the cobblestone road and banged his knees as he fell down again.

"Kairi's been fighting Maleficent for half an hour!?" he yelled incredulously as Goofy and Aerith helped him get to his feet again. "_Alone!?_ She's never fought by herself before!"

"She hasn't?" Mulan asked, unsheathing the sword of her ancestors. "Then there's no telling what state she's in."

-A-D-

Kairi sluggishly hacked her sword downwards at Maleficent's head, but it was carelessly parried away by Maleficent's staff. Her blade went wide out to her side, but strangely Maleficent allowed Kairi to return it to its standard position in front of the girl. Kairi no longer doubted that Maleficent was simply toying with her, but from the grim look on the sorceress' face, she could tell that she was tiring of her little game.

Kairi had used a great deal light to try and relieve the pain Maleficent had inflicted upon her twenty minutes ago, and since then her head wouldn't stop pounding from the numerous times that she'd been smacked into the walls of the buildings she was fighting near and the streetlamps, two of them bent completely over.

Her arms and legs were weary as lead, and her shoulders drooped from exhaustion. Even the keyblade felt heavy in her hands now. She could barely keep her eyes open, both from the drums pounding on the inside of her head and the sheer fatigue caused by using so much energy in spell casting.

She shook her head slowly, trying to throw some of the water that dripped from her bangs and chin off of her face. Maleficent watched her with disdain. Kairi looked up at Maleficent again and tried another attack, but it was parried just as easily as the last and Maleficent quickly struck Kairi in the gut with the butt end of her staff, knocking the wind out of her once more. Kairi's arms both grasped at her stomach, the Oathkeeper clattering onto the ground before vanishing. Maleficent swiped her staff to the side, striking Kairi on the head and sending her spiralling to the ground.

Kairi choked and groaned in the pain she was in. She couldn't take much more of this. She should have passed out a hundred times already, but she was still mostly conscious and aware of every single ache in her body. She hunched her knees up closer to her chest in an instinctive defence reaction as she heard Maleficent approach her again. The witch paused at her childish form and knelt down, her free hand going towards Kairi's neck again.

"I tire of this Princess Kairi," she said, her long finger-nailed hands already beginning to close around Kairi's throat again. "But I will admit that you put up a better struggle than two days ago." Kairi tried in vain to gasp in pain as Maleficent lifted her body up again, hanging limply like a rag-doll.

She gave out a strangled cry and Kairi blacked out for a couple of seconds as her head struck the side of a building again. The world swam behind her eyes, and she groaned as stars glittered constantly in front of her slumped form. A ball of darkness struck Kairi's chest, and she howled in anguish as small bolts of dark lightning crackled from it and struck her in addition to the darkness itself. The torture ceased abruptly, but the pain still remained.

Maleficent approached her again, and Kairi tightly closed her crying eyes, she just hoped that death would come swiftly. She couldn't bear this pain anymore.

Maleficent didn't share the same thoughts. She held out her hand, and an invisible force pulled Kairi up until she was standing on the tips of her feet, her dim blue eyes being forced to look into Maleficent's amber ones. Kairi's eyes gained focus as they were forced to stare at Maleficent, and gradually a fire was kindled underneath the smouldering ashes that had dimmed in this horrendous thunderstorm.

"Did you honestly think that you could accomplish anything by this Kairi?" Maleficent asked coolly, toying with Kairi for one last time. "What virtue do you believe you possess that would make me listen to your childish wishes? Did you think that because you were a valuable piece in this game of chess that I would take you at the cost of everything I was trying to achieve? No. You are not the White Queen that you think you are. You are but a pawn. I am the Dark Queen, and I have taken you with no risk to my plans. If anything, you have granted me some time of pleasure while I prepare for a new experiment that will destroy all of your friends."

"What... experiment?" Kairi asked in a strained voice, the invisible power pushing her stomach with more force. Her fists clenched slightly.

Maleficent pressed a finger to her chin in thought, and looked slightly away from Kairi. The girl slid her right hand behind the small of her back and tightly clenched her fist, pooling the last of her light into it. Her left hand was squeezing a small blue ball tightly.

A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, deafening Kairi once more. The sorceress smiled at the uncertain growl on the princess' face. "Bringing the darkness in a fallen world's heart to life." Kairi froze and looked at Maleficent with incredulity, not quite sure that she had heard Maleficent correctly. Maleficent smiled wider and pointed her staff at Kairi, the green ball on the top glowing hideously in fiery green light, punctuated with flickers of black flames.

-A-D-

King Mickey halted just before an intersection and signalled for the others behind him to stop and keep quiet. The amount of noise wasn't really an issue, as the rain had picked up in intensity again. His big, keen ears picked up a noise that he wasn't able to immediately identify, but it sounded to him like a cry of pain carried by the wind.

Sora leaned up against the wall of a building next to Riku, looking at his digivice. "She's really close," he said impatiently, wanting to keep moving. "She's just down that street to our right, but pretty far down."

"I smell a trap though," Riku said.

"I heard explosions earlier," Goofy said. "I think she may have brought friends with her."

"Take a look here," Mulan said, looking at the small map on Sora's digivice. "Kairi's here in this intersection down the road, right? The two roads that intersect there are all long and straight, there's barely anything leading into them apart from the other roads around them and a couple of alleys. She probably has each of them guarded."

"Then that means she has this entrance guarded as well," Axel said, shaking his head with dismay. He hated the rain. "And as soon as we step out there, BAM, the explosions we heard earlier start hitting us."

"Not unless we ambush them," Mushu said quickly.

"We'd better hurry though," King Mickey said. "If we're going to set up an ambush, we have to act fast. I don't know how much longer Kairi can last, if she's even still alive."

"She is," Menelmon said. Everyone looked at her for a moment. She alone was not bothered by the cold winds and rain, but her eyes burned with such intensity that nobody tried to question Menelmon's belief.

Sora whole-heartily agreed with her. He felt as if he'd sense something if Kairi was gone. Their hearts were connected so strongly, especially after sharing the paopu fruit, he could feel that she was in intense pain. The feeling was growing on him the closer they got to her, and it filled him with a greater desire to continue with all speed.

"Then let's spring the trap and pound them from behind," Yuffie said triumphantly, pointing at the miniscule map on Sora's digivice. "There's an alley back here, we'll try from there. Axel, Mulan, Mushu, can you help me on this one?" They quickly agreed and sprinted into the intersection, heading for the other side.

Gunfire opened up on them at once, and Sora heard the blast coming from the release of a missile. Yuffie leaped up into the air with a bound, somersaulting through the air until she reached the other side of the intersection. Mushu, from Mulan's head, breathed fire out from his mouth in the direction of the gunfire, and the fireballs lit up the road. They saw two soldiers, one of them holding a machine gun, the other an arm-mounted rocket launcher, and an incoming missile.

Axel's chakrams flared with fire and he threw them at the missile, forcing it to detonate as they struck the sides of the white and red weapons. The gunfire ceased momentarily as the missile's explosion blinded everyone, and the small strike group safely made it across to the other side.

Sora waited in an agonizingly long minute for Yuffie to reach her destination. Every second counted, and his heart could feel Kairi in more and more pain than the last. Riku placed a hand on his shoulder, and Sora clipped his digivice back to his jeans and placed his hand on Riku's, glad for his friend's company. A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, and Sora took in a shuddering breath as the thunder _boom_ed.

He heard an explosion of fire from just down the road and Axel's traditional yell of "BURN BABY!" Without a second thought he followed King Mickey and Riku down the street, Donald and Goofy just behind him with Aerith bringing up the rear. The light of the spell that was following Yuffie broke up the darkness between them and her small group, and he could make out two soldiers in black and red armour. But he didn't care, he just sped past them, Riku helping him run while not sacrificing any speed.

"Go! Go! Go!" Yuffie yelled, her raven hair plastered to her face as she fought against the soldier with the machine gun with her oversized shuriken. He couldn't get a clean shot off at anyone, and so was duelling with it like it was a club. Aiwemon and Menelmon streaked over her head, following the wielders of the keyblade at high speed.

-A-D-

Maleficent turned her head slightly, hearing Axel's battle cry, and lowered her staff a little bit. Kairi's confused eyes brightened with hope suddenly.

"You asked me what virtue I thought I possessed Maleficent?" Kairi asked, bringing the sorceress' attention back to her. "I'll tell you. A person's virtue is in the intent of their actions. Good and evil are distinctly defined in the depths of every person's heart. I know that I have tried to listen to what my heart tells me as often as possible ever since I was given my heart back after you had captured me. I intended to save the lives of the people of the worlds that I have come to know and love, and to save the people who I care for most." Maleficent paused, but pressed her staff back in Kairi's direction, the ball on the tip burning with greater intensity.

"I don't know what I have done tonight," Kairi admitted, holding her fist behind the small of her back still, even as the pressure against her doubled and she winced. "But I do know this: my intent was of good!" She withdrew her arm out from her back and thrust it out at Maleficent. At the same time there came a bright glow from the crest hung hidden underneath Kairi's white and tattered shirt. The light that Kairi had held in her hand shot out from the centre of her palm, but with much greater force and power than she had ever anticipated.

Maleficent gave a cry of dismay and frustration as the light struck her in her right side, burning into her. The pressure against Kairi was released, and she hit the ground running with the last of her reserves of energy. A final burst of adrenaline was rushing through her blood, forcing all other senses away as she solely thought to escape.

Maleficent snarled and pointed her staff at Kairi's racing figure, and the pent up dark fireball blasted out at Kairi. Her aim was a little off, probably due to her anger, and struck the ground just behind Kairi. But it was enough, Kairi felt her feet lifting off the ground as the force from the dark explosion with the stone reached her a fraction of a second after.

She landed on her feet at an awkward angle, and gave a cry of pain once more as her ankle rolled out from underneath her.

Her head swam with the combined pain of everything she had suffered, and the adrenaline's last bout would hardly hold her up for much longer, down on the ground as she was and unable to run anymore.

Maleficent did not smile, but created a sword of dark fire out of the darkness she surrounded herself with. Her face revealing her fury, she stalked towards Kairi, who knew it was the end at last.

A bright light shone from her digivice suddenly as it screamed wildly. Kairi forced her eyes to look at it instead of Maleficent, if only so that she could pretend that she wasn't there.

"Menelmon digivolved to, Soronmon!"

Kairi turned her head at the sudden voice behind her, and her eyes became overcome with tears as she saw her digimon partner flying straight towards her in her champion level, the digimon's size barely permitting her to fly over the six-lane road and curbs in between the buildings. Right below the snow-white digimon, King Mickey was rushing towards her, his keyblade in his hand and fires brimming underneath his eyes.

The King leaped over her form, swinging his keyblade quickly at Maleficent, who fell back a couple of steps. Maleficent readied her staff and countered, but King Mickey aptly jumped to the side and aimed a strike against Maleficent's damaged side. The dark sorceress kept him at bay by sending a crackling bolt of darkness into the mouse king's path.

"Polar Chill!" Soronmon yelled, unfurling her wings. Giant icicles formed from her wings and howled down at Maleficent. She flew back on another cloud of darkness and sliced the sword she held in her right hand at one of the icicles.

"Kairi, are you okay?" Sora asked. Kairi's heart jumped to her throat and she turned her eyes away from the battle for a second and found Sora leaning over her, his one hand pressed down on the ground. There was another set of arms on her back, but she didn't care to who they belonged. Kairi whimpered and threw her arms around him, dragging him onto the ground entirely in a heap. She was too overcome to even be astounded that he was here.

"No," she said through tightly closed eyes as she drew him close. "I think I've rolled my ankle, and she's hurt me so much."

"Aerith!" Kairi heard Riku call, and her heart gave another leap. Both of her best friends were here. Her head turned slightly, and Riku came into her field of vision, holding her back up from the cold wet ground. She saw Aerith's concerned face before at last her energy ran out. Kairi swooned in Sora's and Riku's arms, and finally lost consciousness.

Sora looked down at Kairi's unconscious and injured form, inconsolable rage shaking him as he stood up again. His blue eyes turned onto Maleficent as she duelled with King Mickey and Soronmon. Donald and Goofy were hanging back near them in case she tried to attack Kairi again. Aiwemon stood underneath Goofy's larger form, being protected from the wind and rain a little more while his eyes glowed with a violent electric blue, preparing to attack or digivolve if the need arose.

Sora visibly shook, and Donald nudged Goofy while Riku tended Kairi with Aerith.

"Uh-oh," Donald said quickly, observing Sora's eyes.

They were shifting into a bright and hostile yellow, into something that was no longer human. Sora's skin started to change from its normal tone into one that was as black as a shadow.

"Now Sora, we can't have that right now," Goofy said loudly, rushing over and striking him on the head with his shield. Sora stopped changing instantly, and he swooned a little and felt the back of his head. Only Donald was aware of Goofy's actions, as Aiwemon was too busy watching the battle to pay attention to his sudden loss of cover.

"Ow, what did you do that for Goofy?" Sora asked angrily.

"But Sora," Goofy whispered. "You were going into Anti-form." Sora looked at Goofy with frightened eyes.

"I was?" he asked quietly. Donald and Goofy nodded.

"Come on," Riku said, helping Aerith lift Kairi up. "Let's get out of here."

"Right," Sora said, shaking himself out of his trance.

Maleficent snarled and a portal of darkness appeared over her. "You haven't seen the last of this; this is only the beginning!"

King Mickey grimly watched her leave, and Soronmon de-digivolved back to Menelmon, fluttering worriedly down to where Riku and Aerith were carrying Kairi. Sora was shaking his head and he was uncertainly keeping step beside them, his hand tenderly placed on Kairi's. Donald and Goofy were following him closely, nervous looks on their faces.

-A-D-

_And Kairi has been rescued. You all won't kill me, she isn't dead!_

_Please leave a review._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	13. Kairi's Secret

_You know what I have just realized? I am superstitious. In both __**The Beginning**__ and now __**A Week of Troubles**__ I have never been evil in chapter XIII. I was evil in chapter XIV, __**Maleficent's Revenge**__ last time, and I was just evil in chapter XII, __**Rescue**__ this time, sandwiching unlucky XIII between horrid chapters._

_Maybe XIII is their lucky number..._

_And maybe XVIII is my lucky number, because that's how old I turn today, and by today I mean the 14th. Wish me luck getting rid of the hangover tomorrow. Another plus to finally being of age, I can vote in the upcoming election, and I'm not sure if I'll vote Liberal, Green, or NDP. I'll probably go with our socialist NDP, but it will have to wait until after I watch the leader's debate._

_Disclaimer: I still don't own it... it isn't mine. I'm not rubbing two loonies between my fingers from any royalties from this thing because I'm not getting any._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter XIII: Kairi's Secret

"We should be at Radiant Garden in another hour kiddies," Cid said from the _Shera_'s wheel, glancing at the monitors beside him while keeping an eye on the large windows in front of him so that he'd avoid any drifting debris or heartless ships that tended to wander about in the voids of space. The voids weren't always empty though, weird rock formations and tunnels light by strange lights appearing randomly along routes used to travel between worlds. The heartless tended to congregate in these areas, so Cid was steering clear of them for the sake of their passengers. It meant that the trip would be longer, but safer. "So you might as well sit down and strap in."

"Alright Cid," Naminé said. She moved towards a seat and sat down. Roxas swiftly followed with the look that she gave him.

"You heard him shorty," a girl with long blonde hair covered by a red bandana said to another blonde, a shorter boy with his hair tied back in a short ponytail. The girl was wearing a strip of black fabric over her bust and a pair of light purple pants tied around her waist, grey gloves on her hands. The boy had a red cloak wrapped around his shoulders that trailed down to his ankles. Underneath the cloak he was dressed entirely in black, and his hands were covered by white gloves.

Upon being called 'shorty' the boy exploded with rage. "Who are you calling tiny as an ant you jerk!?" The girl pulled out her trusty spanner and struck him on the top of the head with it.

"Can it Ed," she said before her eyes glittered as she bounded to her seat. "Just look at this ship! I want to take it apart, I want to learn all of its secrets, and I want to put it together again!"

"You ain't touching hide nor hair of the _Shera_'s insides girl," Cid quipped from his position above them. "She's _my_ baby, and I'm not letting you outta my sights until we're as far away from this ship as possible." The girl glared at Cid.

"Have it your way old man," she said grumpily, crossing her arms.

"Old? I'll show you old!" Cid said angrily, reaching behind him for his spear.

"Enough Winry," a small elderly woman said from next to Ed. She was very short, and wearing a white smock over a green dress and leather sandals. A pair of small, round glasses was over her eyes, and her light purple hair was pulled back into a short cone that pointed out from the back of her head.

"This man was kind enough to grant us all passage," said a towering, hulking man dressed in a blue uniform. He was almost entirely bald except for a small wisp of blonde hair coming out of his forehead and a thick moustache. Green spiked gauntlets bearing a strange circular symbol were on his hands. "We should give him a gift." He held up a block of clay.

"I don't think Cid needs one Major Armstrong," said a person from within a massive suit of armour. The voice belied a person's first impression of the person, for it sounded only like a twelve year old boy was inside. Major Armstrong didn't listen though, and punched the block of clay, electricity sparking around his fist. There was a flash, and in Alex Louis Armstrong's hand was a stone bust, of himself.

"Didn't Alphonse just say that I didn't need one?" Cid said irritably. "Where the heck am I supposed to put it?" Major Armstrong just smiled and proceeded up the stairs to get to where Cid was standing, and placed the bust right in front of the wheel.

Roxas and Naminé simply sighed and looked at their friends. Edward Elric and his brother Alphonse, commonly called 'Al', and Major Armstrong were people of a profession known as Alchemists, people who used science and strange transmutation circles to change objects from one thing into another. Ed and Major Armstrong were State Alchemists, people who passed rigorous exams set by the State and thereby worked for the government and military. Ed was known as the 'Fullmetal' Alchemist, and Major Armstrong was the 'Strong-Arm' Alchemist. Because Ed often travelled with his brother Al, Al was often mistaken by people as the Fullmetal Alchemist, to Edward's continual annoyance.

Roxas and Naminé had arrived in the town of Resembool the previous day, and the people there had been friendly enough to point them in the direction of the Rockbells. Winry and her aunt Pinako were the automail mechanics they had heard about from Shalua, and when they mentioned her name to Pinako, she and Winry readily agreed to come along with them to see Sora. Whether he chose to accept them making him an arm or not didn't matter to Winry, she was pleased enough to just be on a piece of technology she had never encountered before, and the promise of a new world to see was too much temptation to say no. She had even brought her black dog, Den, with his automail left foreleg along.

Edward, Alphonse, and Major Armstrong happened to be there at the time too. Ed was called the Fullmetal Alchemist because his right arm and left leg were automail. He didn't tell them why, and they didn't press him, feeling that it was an uncomfortable point for him to discuss. Winry and Pinako had made his automail, and because his arm had been destroyed when he went up against a person they called 'Scar', he was there to get fixed up. They three youth were apparently close friends since childhood, and so Winry got upset when Ed showed up with her automail destroyed. Roxas and Naminé had arrived to the sounds of fighting, and watched with fascination as Ed sparred with his brother before Major Armstrong joined in, only to be defeated by the combined efforts of the two brothers. When the three of them heard that Winry and Pinako were going to go to Radiant Garden with Roxas and Naminé, Major Armstrong offered that they accompany them for their protection. Ed and Al were dragged along by Winry, who wouldn't go to another world unless they were there to see it with her.

And so, they were all in the _Shera_, cruising to the Radiant Garden with Cid at the wheel. He understood the need of the young to be distracted, however, and a screen was set up in front of the row of seats set in front of the upper section of the bridge where he stood. Roxas grabbed the remote with his hand as Winry stuck her tongue out at Ed, sitting next to him.

"Ugh," he said, seeing the newscaster of Radiant Garden. "The news. Why is this thing on the news?" He was about to change the channel when she started talking and Roxas paused, he'd at least hear out the first sentence of the story before he'd flip.

"Some residents of Radiant Garden were abruptly woken in the early hours of the morning today to the sounds of gunfire and rockets." Roxas felt his eyes bulge.

"What!?" Naminé and Cid howled simultaneously, followed by Cid's outburst of "Turn that sucker up!"

"RGN news' Theresa Mayor, has the story," the newscaster said.

"Thanks Barbara," the voice of Theresa Mayor said as the scene shifted to the woman, dressed in beige with long brown hair, standing in an intersection. There were deep cracks and holes in the ground, and the brick building in the background had several large dents in its stonework. They could see two streetlights behind her, both of them snapped off near the base. "Where I'm standing now is where a battle was fought just after midnight last night, as Maleficent herself appeared right at this very intersection. Residents in the building you see behind me woke up to the sounds of screaming last night, and when they peered out of their windows the sight they saw horrified them. Please be advised, the following images are disturbing and should not be seen by young children. Viewer discretion is advised." Theresa's image was replaced by footage the station had apparently received earlier. Naminé gasped, a hand coming to her mouth in horror and Roxas felt his breakfast churning in his stomach. The ship jolted to the right, upsetting Armstrong's bust and causing it to fall off. Nobody noticed.

"No!" Naminé breathed.

"What you see now," Theresa began, and they could tell from her voice that she was having difficulty telling the story herself, "is footage given to our studio early this morning from the crew of Wartime Battlewatch and various individuals who wished to remain anonymous. One of Wartime's floating cameras captured these scenes of the dark sorceress fighting Princess Kairi. The princess was severely injured during the battle and is currently in Shinra General Hospital in serious but stable condition. She would not have been recovered if it were not for the valiant efforts of King Mickey Mouse of Disney Castle, and Keyblade Master Riku, of Destiny Islands, and their friends. Eight soldiers of an unknown affiliation arrived with the dark sorceress, two were killed, and the other six escaped with Maleficent. Three others who fought against the soldiers received light injuries, but are expected to make a full recovery. It is currently unknown why Maleficent or Princess Kairi were fighting, and all participants have denied comment. Back to you Barb."

Roxas placed his head to his hands and drew back into his chair. He looked at Naminé, and saw that she was trying to hold back tears without success. Unbuckling himself, he stood up in front of Naminé. She hadn't buckled up, and slowly rose from her own seat to stand in front of him. She was now just a little shorter than him, minus the height added by the spikes of his hair. Roxas opened his arms and drew Naminé into a tight hug, holding back tears of his own. The Princess in his arms started sobbing, and he rubbed her back comfortingly, speaking calm soothing words into her ear.

"It's going to be alright Naminé," he said. "Our friends got her out of there. She's going to be okay."

"Who is Princess Kairi?" Alphonse asked.

"She's a Princess of my world," Naminé said thickly, not leaving Roxas' embrace and not looking at anyone. "And she's my twin sister."

"Why didn't they mention Sora though?" Roxas asked, his voice rising a little. "Where was he?"

"Without an arm?" Naminé asked. "He was probably still in hospital, what could Sora have done against Maleficent without being able to-?"

"He would have done something," Roxas said, cutting Naminé off. "He would have been able to help at least a little."

"Maybe he did," Naminé said quietly, "and they just didn't tell anyone." Roxas turned away and looked out of the large conical viewports that made up the front part of the bridge.

"Yeah," he said, "maybe."

-A-D-

Kairi's felt consciousness return to her slowly, the world was black around her, but that was because her eyes were closed. Her head was very hot and pounded like it had when the thunder from the nearby lightning strike had deafened her. She didn't want to open her eyes. She didn't want to know that the part with her friends saving her never happened. Kairi was fully convinced that Maleficent hadn't killed her like she had said she would, and had merely rendered her unconscious before transporting her to some horrible place, some vile, evil place where she would die every day before being revived to die again.

But if she was in such an evil place, why was she so comfortable despite the aches she felt all over? Why were there soft sheets covering her? Why was her head resting on a soft pillow? Why did it feel like she was covered in bandages and wearing a hospital gown? Why did it sound like she was in a hospital? Why was there a radio playing music in the background?

She shifted slightly, and a dull ache in her arm throbbed. Kairi groaned and clutched a sheet with her fist.

"I know that you're awake Kai."

Kairi slowly allowed her eyes to flutter open at Sora's voice. She was in a bed in a hospital room, _Sora's_ hospital room in fact! She was in a bed across and next to his, a nightstand beside her and another chair had been added to the room to go next to her bed.

She sat up slowly in her bed, the aches in her body forcing her to groan while her burning head made her eyes swim a little.

"Sora?" she asked quietly, holding her head. "What happened?"

"That's what we would like to know," Sora replied sternly, looking towards the door. "Hey guys, she's awake." Kairi slowly turned her head towards the doorway. Riku entered, and then King Mickey followed by Donald and Goofy and Jiminy on Goofy's hat. Aiwemon and Menelmon flew in after them. Menelmon flew right up to Kairi's side and nuzzled her head against Kairi's cheek. Kairi couldn't help but smile and hold the little bird digimon close. She looked around slightly, noticing that only three more people had entered, Kensworth, Helia, and a young servant girl who she had never seen before.

"Where is everybody else?" Kairi asked.

"Well do you think we'd be able to fit everybody in this room?" Donald asked grumpily. "It's cramped enough in here as it is."

"A few people are visiting Hayner, Charlie, and Mulan," Sora said. "They got hurt last night." Kairi looked down at her knees with sad eyes.

"So still," she said quietly in retrospect. "After all I went through, my plan to save everyone failed. More of our friends only got hurt."

"Plan to save everyone?" King Mickey asked. "What do you mean Kairi?" Kairi looked at him with humility.

"Your Majesty," she began, causing everyone's interest to increase, "I called Maleficent to Radiant Garden last night. She came because I asked her to."

"You did what!?" her two best friends said simultaneously.

"Please Sora, Riku, let me finish," Kairi said quietly. They ceased and looked at each other in wonder. Kairi was speaking so quietly, with such shame that she'd never had in her voice before.

"I asked Maleficent to come here last night," Kairi continued, "because I was going to offer her terms."

"Terms?" Donald asked. Kairi nodded her head.

"I was going to give myself up to her," Kairi answered, not looking at anyone, or their stunned expressions, "and in return she was supposed to not harm any one of you or the others, their friends and family, and she would not extend her dominion to beyond boundaries set between her and a coalition of good worlds."

"That was very foolish Kairi," King Mickey said agitatedly. "She could have killed you."

"She nearly did kill you," Sora said quietly. "And I could do nothing to stop her." He looked down at his hand, and Donald and Goofy shared nervous glances with each other.

"None of you were supposed to know," Kairi said in a hushed voice. "It was supposed to be my sacrifice to save you all."

"Okay," Riku said, turning to look at everyone else in the room. "Can I get a moment with these two, alone?"

"But Riku," said Aiwemon.

"But nothing," Riku answered. "The three of us need to speak candidly, and everything said may not be appropriate for everyone present to hear. Besides, the three of us are long overdue for a real heart-to-heart chat."

"I understand Riku," King Mickey said, motioning to Donald and Goofy and Jiminy.

"Go on," Sora said, nudging Aiwemon. Aiwemon nodded at him and flew out, Menelmon and Kairi's servants coming with him. Riku closed the door behind King Mickey and waited by the door for a few seconds before pulling up the second chair in the room and jamming it under the door's handle, effectively locking the door. Kairi looked at him worriedly as he sat down in the first chair and positioned it by the window so that he could look at both of them.

"First things first," he said plainly. "Kairi, is it that time of the month?"

He fully expected to get a red mark on the side of his cheek for that question, and he received it a few seconds after contact.

"What kind of a question is that you pervert!?" Kairi asked, incensed.

"What is up with you Riku?" Sora yelled. "Why would you ask Kairi something that... personal?"

"I'm not a pervert," Riku said stoically. "And it's a logical reason for why Kairi is acting with such eccentric acts as giving herself up to _Maleficent_! So, is it?"

"NO!" Kairi said heatedly before her voice lost a little of its temper. "And I wouldn't be in this bed if it was. I'd be dead right now."

"Why Kai?" Sora asked uncertainly, he was in a conversation that was in _very_ dangerous waters concerning his rocky relationship with Kairi. Kairi looked away from both of them and blushed from embarrassment. She mumbled something.

"What was that Kairi?" Riku asked, leaning in. Kairi sighed.

"I can't use magic or summon my keyblade during my... you know... period," she repeated quietly in discomfort.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Sora asked concernedly. "All the times we were fighting, if you couldn't have-"

"It's not something I'd readily share with anyone!" Kairi snapped. "I ask you Sora, if you were a girl would _you_ want to tell your boyfriend that you are incapable of anything when you're bleeding for three days because he wasn't stupid and got you pregnant?"

Sora dropped his eyes and blushed a deep crimson. Very dangerous waters indeed.

"For future reference Kairi?" Riku asked uncertainly, "does this happen with _all_ girls?" Kairi snorted.

"If you want to know, just ask your girlfriend," she said, smiling a little as she said it. "Though, she may not be as gentle as I was."

"How'd you find out?" Sora asked. "It never happened when we were in combat."

"Well, uh..." Kairi started rubbing the back of her head uncomfortably. "When we were on the way from Agrabah to Halloween Town, I went in the simulator and decided to fight some shadows and armoured knights. Imagine my surprise when my keyblade wouldn't come to my hands and I couldn't use magic. I got flattened. But it's only really bad on the first day. After that, I'm able to summon the keyblade again and use some less powerful magic."

"Hn," Sora said. "Kinda like me."

"Don't say that Sora," Riku said. "You still have the keyblade, you've just lost what it takes to summon it." Sora bristled.

"Are you saying that I'm weak?" Sora asked angrily.

"Maybe I am," Riku said, goading him further. "Maybe you don't have what it takes to protect Kairi after all. Maybe, I'm still the better one for her than you ever will be."

"Don't tell me that you're in love with Kairi," Sora said, his eyes narrowing.

"I have _always_ loved Kairi!" Riku snarled. Kairi looked at him in surprise and Riku turned around entirely so that Sora couldn't see his face. He smirked at her and Kairi understood. He was taunting Sora.

"You may love Kairi Riku," Sora growled back. "But I do as well, and at least I had the sense not to deal with Maleficent to try and get her back." His comment stung both Riku and Kairi. Partially because a small part of Kairi's plan was so that Sora would come back to his senses.

"But what does it matter if we're both in love with Kai?" Sora said suddenly, his body wilting. "It's her decision who she wants to be with. And I can only hope that it's me. But, why would you choose me over Riku? I can't protect you anymore, I can't protect my friends or family from anything. Last night I almost-I almost lost you, and I couldn't do anything at all. Maybe it would be better for you to be with Riku." Sora put his hand underneath the turquoise hospital gown he was once again in and pulled out the crest that hung around his neck.

"The crest of Valour," he said. "How in the name of Calypso was I chosen for this crest?"

"Sora you idiot," Riku said dismally. "How could you fall for that? Have you stopped listening to your heart entirely? You _know_, or at least your heart knows, that I love Kairi as a best friend, but that she is safer with no other person than you by her side."

"And as for choosing you over Riku," Kairi added. "I told you in Port Royal when we were talking about your Dad. My heart chose you from the beginning. I fell for you the day we met. But, I suppose that neither of us thought that there would be any rough patches, now did we?"

"And Valour?" Riku asked. "Last night you went out in the middle of a horrendous thunderstorm, blinded by a spell of darkness, in clothes that were probably not the best choice for the weather, and still getting used to missing an entire limb, all to try and do something to find the girl you loved. I'd say that it would take a lot of courage to be able to do something like that."

"And," Kairi began slowly, looking down a bit, "a small part of my plan was so that you'd get off your ass and save me again if you knew that Maleficent had me. But when I told you to come save me again, I didn't exactly mean right away." Kairi paused for a second and her eyes flickered up to Sora's again. "But I'm glad you did." Kairi and Sora looked down ashamedly just as a new song began playing on the radio.

_We are young,  
Heartache, to heartache,  
We stand.  
No Promises, No Demands,  
Love is a Battlefield._

Sora perked his ears up. "Pat Benatar. This is a good song."

_We are strong,  
No one can tell us we're wrong.  
Searching our hearts for so long,  
Both of us knowing,  
Love is a Battlefield._

The three of them listened to the song as it played on the radio, and Sora's and Kairi's eyes often darted between each other's, missing meeting by a second almost every time. Finally, their eyes met, and they couldn't be broken from each other as blue looked into blue. Both of them blushed as Sora realized how stupid some of his earlier ramblings were. Riku looked between the two of them and listened to the song itself as just that, a song.

"You're right Sora," he said at the end. "It is a good song. A little different from my usual tastes, but..."

"A little different?" Kairi scoffed. "You listen to death metal."

"So does Sora," Riku answered.

"No I don't," Sora countered. "I may listen to everything, but death metal does not count in my definition of that word."

"You listen to Ozzy," Riku replied calmly.

"Ozzy is Ozzy," said Sora, like it was obvious. "Ozzy is good because he is Ozzy. Kairi, you listen to Ozzy too right?"

"_Bark at the Moon_," she said. "My favourite Ozzy song, and I listen mostly to pop-rock and country."

"Johnny Cash," Sora said.

"Aaron Pritchett," said Kairi.

"Brad Paisley."

"Brooks & Dunn."

"Paul Brandt."

"John Denver."

"Toby Keith."

"Tim McGraw."

"Taylor Swift."

Riku raised an eyebrow at Sora. He had been the first person in that little bout between him and Kairi to list a female country singer. "You like Taylor Swift?"

"Yeah," Sora said. "She's a good singer."

"What's your favourite song by her?" Kairi asked.

"_Our Song_," Sora replied, almost as if the song's title was on the tip of his tongue.

"Oh," Riku said teasingly. "So you _like_ her." Sora noted the emphasis Riku put on the word.

"Come on Riku, I do not like her," he retaliated.

"But she is pretty."

"Well yeah she's pretty." Sora stopped and looked past Riku at Kairi, who was glaring dangerously at him. "But nowhere near as pretty as you Kairi!"

"Oh?" Kairi asked sharply.

"Oh?" Sora repeated uncertainly.

"So I'm just 'pretty' now?" Kairi asked. "Not 'beautiful' or 'stunning' or 'drop-dead gorgeous'? Just 'pretty'?"

"You're always beautiful Kairi," Sora said quietly, and they could tell that he meant it. "Even when you're in a hideous hospital gown with a face as red as a tomato. Nobody is as beautiful as my girlfriend."

"I wouldn't say that Kairi is the only one with a high temperature right now Sora," Riku said. Sora looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Riku didn't have to answer him, as right after Sora finished his sentence, he sneezed.

Kairi laughed. "Sora, you are too easy to tease! So does this mean that we're dating again?"

Sora nodded his head and laughed. "Sure thing Kairi."

"Good," Kairi said. "I expect a date then."

Sora blinked. "What?"

Kairi leaned towards him and placed her hands on her hips, a peculiar expression on her face. "Well you didn't expect that I wouldn't want it completely official this time did you? We haven't been on a single, real date at all! I want flowers, dinner, and a movie. And after that..." she blushed and coyly curled a finger through her hair. "After that, we'll see."

Riku wolf-whistled.

"NOT LIKE THAT RIKU! I DON'T PUT OUT _THAT _EASILY, NOT EVEN FOR SORA!"

"Ouch," Sora murmured, faking hurt. Riku raised an eyebrow at Kairi and leaned back in his chair.

"You put out?"

"PERVERT!!" Kairi screeched while laughing, pointing her finger at Riku. "PERVERT! PERVERT! PERVERT!"

_Heat of the moment._

"Turn that radio off!"

"But Kai, I like this song."

"You like just about _every_ song you lazy bum."

Sora leaned back in his bed and placed his hand behind his head. "True, which means it makes listening to the radio easy." He grinned at her, and Riku and Kairi couldn't help but smile and laugh.

His grin was back.

She couldn't believe that twelve hours ago, she would have given up ever seeing that smile again.

"Well if I'm such a pervert," Riku drawled. "I suppose that Sora is too."

"What?" both Sora and Kairi said simultaneously.

"You guys made it to second base right?" Riku asked.

A red mark appeared a few seconds later on the opposite cheek.

"NO!" both of them said.

"Well then what was with the little show the other day when you both woke up and you snatched all the blankets Kai?" Riku asked, a devilish smirk on his face.

"My chest was covered before I snatched them up Riku," Kairi said, her face ruby red. "I was just... covering up more. I don't like other people seeing me in just my underwear and bandages from battle wounds. It's embarrassing."

"Yeah," Sora snorted. "As if it wasn't embarrassing for me to wind up out in the open in my boxers, bandages wrapped all over me as well, and missing an arm."

"Sorry about that Sora," Kairi said, giving a small giggle. "But I did give you a sheet."

"After Yuffie told me to put some clothes on," Sora retorted playfully.

"Whatever," Riku smirked. "You just wanted to show yourself off to Sora."

"I'm going to kill you Riku!" Kairi yelled, she was half-way through trying to leap at Riku when she swooned and placed her head in one hand and another on her right ankle.

"Kairi?" Sora asked concernedly. Kairi shook her head and gave a snort of laughter.

"Damn fever and ankle," she said, collapsing back onto her bed.

"Yuffie really should take her own advice," Riku said, smirking still and completely ignoring Kairi's attempt at homicide.

"What?" Kairi asked.

"She sleeps naked," Riku answered. There was a moment of stunned silence.

"Riku you dog," Sora said with a massive grin on his face.

"Sora!" Kairi scolded, before turning on Riku. "I hope you haven't done anything inappropriate." Riku waved his hand in Kairi's face.

"My sex life is exactly the same as yours," he said. "Zip. I plan to keep it that way for a long while. I'd wait until marriage before sex. The four of us are still at first base then. The only difference between us all is that I am unable to sleep in the same bed with Yuffie until I take her to bed."

"I'm sure she could accommodate something," Sora said quietly, blushing again. "But Kairi and I only slept in the same bed twice. The first time it was a prank, the second time it was because Kai needed someone to comfort her."

"Almost being drowned by a mythical beast with a hundred huge flailing tentacles tends to shake a person up inside," Kairi said, her voice low as she remembered the cold, clammy feel of the Kraken's arms against her ankle.

"Would you take her to bed though?" Sora asked. "Do you love her?" Riku was caught off-guard by his sudden question.

"I-I'm not exactly sure if I am in love with her," said Riku, looking down uncomfortably. "I know that I like her a lot, and that seeing her smile makes me happy."

"It's a start," Kairi said with a sigh.

"You know, that makes me want to ask a question," Sora said after a moment. "Why is Kairi's bed in my room too?"

"You don't like me being here?" Kairi asked, cocking her head to the side and giving him a smile that was simply adorable, her eyelashes batting against her eyes.

"I love the fact that you're here with me Kairi," Sora laughed. "It's just that it's weird, given the attitude of Nurse Ratchet."

"I tell you," Riku said. "The nurse from _One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_ is a bitch."

"At least we know that Kairi's not a bitch, even when she is in a bitchy mood," Sora joked. Kairi turned her eyes skyward.

"I'm glad that I know that the boys love me," she said sarcastically. "Now I can die in peace."

Sora shrugged. "Well, if you do die now, you'll die laughing through your fever."

"Huh?"

Sora shared a look with Riku, and the both of them smiled wickedly.

"Don't move Kai," said Sora, quickly hanging his crest around his neck again and moving the blankets off from around his legs.

"It'll only make it harder on yourself," said Riku, standing up.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Get her," Riku said. The two of them flew at Kairi, Sora leaping from his bed onto hers, and viciously attacked her with their fingers.

Naminé and Kairi were two of a kind. Both were fiendishly ticklish.

"Don't touch the ankle!" was Kairi's only request as they came at her. "I think I rolled it last night before you all rescued me."

The Sun shone through the window, and all traces of the storm last night, apart from the gigantic puddles of water on the ground that had not yet been taken in by the sewer system, had vanished. The song of small songbirds flitted in with the breeze through the open window, blending in with the music from the radio. And Kairi was still here, she was still here to enjoy it. She was still here to laugh until she cried because two boys that she loved were tickling her like animals.

Outside of the door, King Mickey waited patiently with a slight smile on his face.

"What do you think they're talking about in there?" Goofy asked Donald. The court magician shook his head, trying to get rid of some of the agony he'd previously had. He had just been eavesdropping on the side of the door with his acute sense of hearing.

"I'm not sure Goofy," Donald replied, louder than usual just to make sure that he could hear himself. "But Kairi was just screeching the word 'pervert' a lot. And now she's laughing hysterically."

"Pervert?" Kensworth asked incredulously. King Mickey laughed.

"We always seem to forget," he said, shaking his head. "They are teenagers. They need time to be themselves with one another." He looked at the door, still smiling to himself.

"Their friendship will outlast everything," he said. "Those three in there, they're with each other to the end. Nothing will break their faith in each other as long as they have each other."

-A-D-

Eventually, Riku let the others back into the room. Sora was once more in his bed, except near the foot, and Kairi was on the foot of her own bed. Since each bed had an excess of two pillows on it, they had taken their total of four extra pillows and overlapped them between the feet of the two beds and were lying with their heads on the little bridge they had made between the beds. Kairi's other pillow was underneath her right foot, keeping it somewhat comfortable.

Riku sat back down in his chair again, and Kensworth took the other chair.

"Now then Kairi," King Mickey asked, "why'd you go to an extreme measure like that?" There was a long moment of silence for a while as everyone looked at Kairi. Her own eyes were on Sora's, just centimetres from her own as they lay down together. Sora gave the slightest of nods and Kairi sighed.

"I think I'd convinced myself that we'd never be able to defeat Maleficent," Kairi said slowly. She rolled around so that she was looking at everyone but Sora now, and she winced when her ankle moved. "You didn't know what it was like fighting her in Destiny Islands Your Majesty. She was so powerful that it scared me. She tossed Sora and me around like ragdolls, and hurt Ohtarmon and Soronmon so much that they de-digivolved back down to Ninquemon and Luinmon."

"I won't forgive her for that," Sora growled behind her. Aiwemon and Menelmon nodded their heads as they sat together in front of the beds. "But she did worse."

"What?" Riku asked before remembering, "Your arm?" Neither Sora or Kairi nodded their heads, and instead they shared a quick second of silence between them with their eyes closed.

"Let's tell them," Sora whispered.

"Okay," Kairi sighed faintly. They both opened their eyes and looked slightly away from the others.

"We weren't exactly telling the truth when we said that Maleficent destroyed my arm," Sora said.

"Huh?" Goofy asked. "But, she must have."

"We weren't exactly lying either," said Kairi.

"Well then what happened?" Donald asked, tapping his webbed foot on the ground impatiently.

There was a pause.

"I did it," Kairi said.

-A-D-

Far away from the hospital in a government building, Agent Rachel Quin was listening in on their conversation through a computer terminal that received the wireless feed from the bug that she'd planted in the room. She still had the headset around her ears, but she was no longer paying attention to what was being said anymore. Her eyes were wide in shock and her jaw was slack at the little tidbit of information she'd just received. It was so much different compared to many minutes ago when she'd been smiling and laughing quietly at the friendly banter between Kairi and the two Islanders.

_The Princess was the one who'd destroyed the Keyblade Master's arm!?_

She pulled the headset off of her ears and let it hang around her neck. Her cinnamon eyes were no longer wide, but were now sad as she contemplated this. She had never expected that they'd actually get someone other than Maleficent to be the cause of the accident on Destiny Islands or the business of the previous night, but now it was clear that Princess Kairi was behind both of those incidents.

Rachel Quin looked down at the piece of paper and pen she had in front of her that she was supposed to be using to jot down important points, relevant points, that could be used to further the investigation into the incident on Destiny Islands. So far she had three points on it: 'Teenagers are fun to listen to when they don't know that you're listening,' 'Master Sora and Princess Kairi are dating again,' and 'Master Riku is a pervert in Princess Kairi's opinion.' She had not included the little bit about Kairi inviting Maleficent to come to Radiant Garden and flatten her into a pancake because the princess had explained herself logically to that one, and Agent Quin did not find it relevant to her investigation.

She wondered how relevant Agent Wright would find her other points. _Ah well_, she thought. _He'll just say that it's not very professional of me, and then I'll remind him that I'm twenty-three_.

She still took the pen though and scribbled down four words, anxiety coming to her as she did so. She didn't really want to do it, but it was her job after all. And sometimes, you have to do things that you really wouldn't like to do.

Agent Quin completely removed the headset from her person and took the sheet of paper with her. She rose from her terminal in her cubical and strode past her coworkers to Agent Wright's office. The door was open, and she knocked on the side to get his attention as he sat at his desk.

"Yes Rachel," he said, looking up at her. He was holding his sunglasses lightly in his right hand and glancing at a picture of his wife and three children. Agent Quin smiled slightly, his mood an deportment were completely different when at the office compared to when he was in the field.

"I have it Brad," she said, entering his office and placing the sheet at his desk. His eyes strode over her first few comments and he laughed to himself.

"You've solved the mystery of life Rachel," he said, looking up at her. "Who would have ever guessed that a teenager like Master Riku would be called a pervert by his best friends? What was the context of her calling him one?"

"He asked if she 'put out'," Rachel replied. "And then he asked if she and Sora ever went to second base." Agent Wright laughed.

"Not our Princess," he said, shaking his head and about to look back at the paper. "She's too good to-" He stopped, and his sunglasses fell limply out of his hand, clattering on his wooden desk.

"_Princess Kairi is responsible_," he read aloud. He looked between the paper and Rachel. "You'd better be dead serious about this Quin!"

She registered the renewed use of her surname and recognized that now it was all business. She nodded. "I am sir, she just said so. The conversation is recording, as always, so we can play it back later for you if you wish." Agent Wright rubbed a hand over his hair.

"And I thought that what she did this morning was bad," he said. "Somers got a hand on that footage from that show. She had called Maleficent here to give herself in to protect all of us."

"I know Wright," Agent Quin said. "The Princess already said so herself earlier."

"Then why didn't you write that down on the page?" Agent Wright exclaimed, slapping his hand down on the desk. He got up and went to the door.

"I didn't think it was pertinent to our invest-" Agent Wright shut the door.

"Then how do you think the Princess' love life is pertinent?" her superior asked. He headed for his phone. "I have to inform Mr. Fantast about this." He picked up the receiver and began dialling.

"What will happen to Kairi?" Agent Quin asked. Agent Wright paused a second and didn't look at her.

"I'd rather not think about it," he said. "They could brand her a traitor with all that she's done recently. And information like that is exactly what the AMRGP does not need."

-A-D-

"You did it?" Riku asked, looking to Sora for confirmation. When Sora didn't move, he rubbed a hand through his hair.

"Gawrsh Kairi," Goofy said sadly, "why did you do that? I thought you loved Sora."

"I do," Kairi said, her eyes pleading for her friends to understand. "I did it because I love him, but... I didn't mean for it to happen that way."

"Huh?" Donald asked.

"Maleficent channelled the darkness in the sword she was using at the time into a bolt of lightning," Sora answered. "She fired it at Kairi, but I got in the way. It struck my arm, but instead of just hurting me, my arm absorbed the darkness."

"It, absorbed it?" King Mickey asked.

Sora nodded. He continued speaking, his voice beginning to break as he got further into his memory. "After that, I felt my arm in pain, but I couldn't move it. And then it moved on its own. I was no longer in control of my arm! And then it swung me around and latched around Kairi's throat."

"It was horrible," Kairi admitted, closing her eyes. "You can't imagine how much anything solely of darkness hurts me when it strikes. It smothered my light and burned my neck. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't scream, all I could do was watch Sora's arm do that with tears in both of our eyes."

"If Ninquemon and Luinmon hadn't bounded into me and broken the arm's grip," Sora choked. "I don't know what would've happened to Kairi, and Maleficent was laughing the whole time."

"And then Cossex jumped in with her axes and started fighting Maleficent," Kairi said. "I crawled over to Sora as he was lying on the ground, pinning his arm beneath him, and tried to cast out the darkness in it. I had been able to cast Maleficent's shadow out of myself, so I thought that I could heal the arm and bring it back to the light." Kairi paused and opened her eyes.

"I started speaking in that strange tongue," she said. "I think what I said was, _Kírië noraki umûl_. And then the light that was coming from my hands turned into something like a raging cannon, blasting and shredding the arm to pieces."

King Mickey looked sharply at her. "Kairi, where did you learn Quintessence?"

"Quintessence?" she asked, confused. "Is that the language I've been speaking and hearing Thessaura speak?"

"Thessaura!" King Mickey exclaimed. "You know about Thessaura?"

"Uh," Sora began. "I hate to be a drag here, but just what are guys talking about?"

"Beats me Sora," Riku and Goofy said simultaneously. They looked at each other and laughed slightly.

"Thessaura is one of the Gods of the Ancients," King Mickey explained. "They've been here since the beginning of time, before all other Gods and Goddesses. She is the Goddess of Light and Healing, and is the patron Goddess of all wielders of the keyblade. She constantly speaks to the virtue and morality within our hearts, guiding us on our path as wielders of the keyblade to protect the worlds against the forces of evil. Quintessence is the language of those Ancient Gods, and words in that language allow us to perform more powerful magic than we normally could. A single sentence or word uttered while casting can be very powerful."

"So I've been speaking in a language used by Gods?" Kairi asked in surprise.

"Yes," King Mickey answered. "But you have no idea what you're saying, now are you?" Kairi smiled slightly and closed her eyes again.

"Not a clue." King Mickey sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Whelp, the three words you just told me, _Kírië noraki umûl_, translated mean 'Light destroys darkness'. So that would explain why when you were trying to heal Sora's arm, you destroyed it instead." Kairi looked down and away from her friends.

"I guess that I'll be a little more careful when that language, Quintessence, comes out."

"It comes out through your heart Kairi," King Mickey explained. "You must have been exceptionally angry at Maleficent at the time."

"As we were of you last night," Kensworth suddenly said, coming into the conversation.

"You deliberately deceived us Kairi," Helia added, her tone very cross. Kairi laughed sheepishly and looked away again.

"You worried all of us sick," Kensworth continued. "You could have died last night. You _would_ have died last night were it not for a person standing in this room." His expression softened slightly when Kairi rolled around and looked at Sora in admiration. Of course she wouldn't get it right away.

"I said _standing_ Princess Kairi," Kensworth said. Kairi scrunched her face up in confusion and looked around again. Kensworth gently prodded the servant that had been standing quietly beside him the whole time. She took a step forward nervously and bowed in respect.

"My name is Agatha Quin," she said. "It is an honour to actually meet you, Your Highness."

"It's nice to meet you too Agatha," Kairi said, smiling. "And please, don't bow to me."

"But I must," Agatha said in shock. "It is proper for me to bow to one of your station."

"A person of my station," Kairi began humourously, "is lying on a hospital bed with a fever and a rolled ankle from her own stupidity. What makes you think that you should bow to her? I should be bowing to _you_, for... whatever you did that saved my life."

Agatha didn't know how to take Kairi's words, and stayed silent.

"Agatha was the one who discovered that you weren't in your bed, Kairi," Kensworth said. "She then informed me, and after we searched the castle, I informed Tifa."

"Who then informed all of us," Riku continued, "and I called Sora, and then we left to search for you."

"And we were then informed about the search by a Moogle named Hekel," Kensworth said. "He wouldn't stop badgering us until we listened to him, and after that he would not cease telling me about every last one of your friends in the Seventh Heaven last night."

"And Sora was the one who led us to you," Goofy said. Kairi looked at Sora, who smiled and shrugged.

"The digivices can track each other," Sora explained. "That's how I knew where you were. I probably would have found you anyway, but we wouldn't have arrived as qui-" He was cut off by Kairi's lips on his own, and closed his eyes as he kissed her back.

"I guess this means that they're back together again," Jiminy said from Goofy's hat.

"Gawrsh it looks like you're right Jiminy," agreed Goofy, "ahyuk." Riku laughed.

"Well, that's stating the obvious," he said. Sora and Kairi broke apart slowly, chuckling and giggling quietly to each other.

Kensworth crossed his arms, however. "Getting back together with the Keyblade Master won't save you this time Kairi," he said, causing Kairi to look around again. "When you get out of this hospital and back into the castle, you're going to get a lecture."

Kairi quietly laughed guiltily as her face became strained with anxiety. "Think you can get me out of this Sora?" she muttered through her teeth at the boy's head behind her.

"Not on your life Kai," Sora returned with a grin. "You deserve this one. Silly Princess, tricks are for commoners like me."

Everyone laughed.

"You deserve one too," Kairi retorted. "You're still blaming yourself for your mother's death and you still won't summon the keyblade."

"Kairi," Sora said quietly, and she realized too late that she had gone too far, "don't mention my mom. Please."

They were all silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry Sora," Kairi apologized. "I shouldn't have said that." Sora was about to speak again when another voice interrupted him.

"Where is she? Where's Princess Kairi?"

Kairi perked up at the voice and looked towards the door again. "Naminé?" she asked. "Naminé! I'm in here!" Within a few seconds, Naminé ran into the room, closely followed by Roxas and Cid, and then an eight-foot tall suit of armour with two teenagers, an elderly woman smoking a pipe, a dog with a metal foreleg, and a broad shouldered, nearly bald man in a blue uniform.

"Wh-uh-oh," said Sora quickly, forcing himself back onto the rest of his bed as the room suddenly got extremely crowded. He was lucky he got out of the way when he did, for not even a second later, Naminé had dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Kairi's upper body and enveloped her in a hug.

"I heard that you fought against Maleficent again last night," Naminé said, "and that you were hurt badly."

"I was Naminé," Kairi answered, placing her arms around her sister's shoulders. "And I would have died last night if it wasn't for Agatha standing over there."

"Who?" Naminé asked, turning around and looking at everyone assembled in the room.

Kensworth prodded her again, and Agatha took a tiny step forward and bowed again. "It's an honour to meet you, Princess Naminé." Naminé removed her arms from Kairi and stood up, a slight smile on her face. She then surprised Agatha by returning her bow.

"You saved my sister," she returned. "It is an honour to meet you." Agatha shook her head and blushed.

"No, I didn't really do anything," she stuttered.

"Don't be so modest," Kairi said. "You started a chain of events which led to Sora, Riku, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, the digimon, and Aerith being able to find me using Sora's digivice."

"I knew it!" Roxas said, looking at Sora. "I knew that you did something!" Sora looked quizzically at him.

"What?"

"The newscasters didn't say squat about you, kid," Cid said. "Looks like you've been shunted out of the spotlight." The elderly woman looked at Sora with interest and calmly strode up to him. Everyone eyed her curiously except for the female teenager who had entered with Roxas and Naminé, who came right up behind the woman. The girl analyzed Sora's non-existent left arm with a critical eye.

"Yep," she declared after a few seconds. "This is the one."

"Of course he's the one," the elderly woman said. "How many other people in here do you see with missing limbs?" She then turned and looked at the boy with the red cloak. "No offence tiny."

"Who are you calling so small that you have to be seen with a magnifying glass you miserable old hag!?" the boy returned.

"You shouldn't take jokes about your height seriously brother," said the suit of armour.

"Easy for you to say Al," the boy muttered.

"Uh..." Donald began. "Who are they?" Roxas snapped his fingers.

"Right, we forgot to introduce you," he said sheepishly. "This is Winry and Pinako Rockbell, they're automail mechanics. That's Winry's dog Den. Edward and Alphonse Elric. Ed's the older one by the way. And this is-"

"Major Alex Louis Armstrong!" the man declared, throwing off the top half of his uniform with ease, "the Strong Arm Alchemist!" The eyes of Sora, Kairi, Riku, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy, Kensworth, Helia, and Agatha all bulged as they stared at the Major. His torso was filled with rippling, toned, vigourous muscles. His arms bulged with the strength of a mountain. His beefy hands were powerful devices of the human body.

"And yes," Naminé sighed. "Those are pink sparkles around him."

Armstrong posed as his muscles bulged out in all angles, showcasing his beautiful, buff body. Agatha was drooling slightly. Sora and Riku had shaken themselves out of their trances, and were looking at each other ashamedly and checking the size of their biceps when they flexed. Sora's right arm was more muscled than it had been before, but it was still pretty scrawny. Riku's arms were buffer, but even when adding the three of their arms together they still weren't the size of one of Major Armstrong's when he wasn't flexing. Kairi was staring at Armstrong's build with glazed eyes. Naminé's eyes had managed to find their way to Armstrong's body once more, and she was gazing at him with a hungry look in her eyes. Helia was finding it hard not to gawk, while Winry and Pinako somehow could have cared less.

All the guys felt uncomfortable and inadequate.

Sora lay back down on the pillow bridge and snapped his fingers right next to Kairi's ear. The princess broke free of the spell and whirled around, gasping slightly in pain as her leg rose and fell back down, her ankle just missing the pillow. Her eyes met Sora's, and the look of intrigue he gave her made Kairi blush.

"Sorry Sora," she admitted, hiding her neck in her shoulder blades as she withdrew. "I didn't mean to stare. He was just so... attractive."

"I'll show you why you're attracted to me," Sora said quickly. Before Kairi could respond, he kissed her. Kairi felt her eyes close by their own power and her skin tingled. She felt as if her nerves were melting as her heart raced. Sora'd never kissed her this way before. It was as tender and gentle as they had always been, but it had a certain amount of ruggedness that made her heart erupt with passion. Her arms moved without conscious thought around his shoulders, pressing him closer as his own arm cupped the back of her head. They found themselves twisting around without knowing it, and Kairi ignored the pain that her ankle caused her as both of them rolled off the beds onto the window side, somehow managing to straighten themselves out so that they were facing the same direction instead of opposite ones. Kairi moaned in pleasure as their tongues danced between them and she clutched at his turquoise-clad shoulders. They broke apart for a second, and Kairi laughed as she lay on top of Sora and looked him square in the eyes.

"Now I'll show you why you're attracted to me," she said. An instant later she swooped down on him and let her lips and tongue do the talking.

Everyone else was somewhat watching from the other side of the beds. Major Armstrong was crying with joy, it being so beautiful to him.

"Whoa," Jiminy said quietly.

"Hey Sora," Winry said. "If you want to be able to kiss and hold your girlfriend with _two_ arms, you'd better get the automail one we're offering you. As a bonus, you'd be able to feel somewhat normal having two arms again."

"How soon can you have it ready?" came Sora's breathless and mumbled question. Pinako took a breath in from her pipe before releasing the smoke.

"Two days," she replied.

"He'll take it," Kairi answered for Sora before the sounds of their senseless kissing continued.

Naminé looked at Roxas with a playful twinkle in her eyes. Roxas caught sight of it just in time to hold her back, enough so that she didn't plough him into the wall or onto the floor, and she began kissing him.

"I-I think that we should leave them be, sir," Agatha said, her eyes wide in fascination as both princesses continued on.

"Yes, I quite agree," Kensworth concurred. "We shall return later." Everyone left the room except Aiwemon, Menelmon, and Riku, who smiled at the two pairs of lovebirds.

"I think I'm going to go and find Yuffie," said Riku. He left the room and Aiwemon and Menelmon looked at each other from atop Sora's and Kairi's beds, overlooking the rolling figures of Sora and Kairi, hair and hospital gown already ruffled on either teenager.

"I think they're having fun," Menelmon said. Aiwemon observed Sora and Kairi once more, nodding. He looked back at Menelmon again, and stared at her for a long while, noting the songs of the birds outside.

Finally, he said, "I'm hungry."

The four humans burst out from their kissing contests, laughing their heads off.

"Way to ruin a moment Aiwë," Sora said, shaking his head. "But you're right, I'm hungry too."

"Were you thinking about food when you were kissing me?" Kairi teased.

"You taste good Kai," Sora replied without thinking. He then blushed horribly. "That came out wrong."

"Innuendo!" Naminé laughed. Kairi laughed slightly, and then placed her head in her hands, swiftly followed by Sora.

"Maybe we shouldn't have been so extreme Sora," she said, wincing in pain. "We still have fevers, and my ankle hurts like hell now."

"In hindsight, maybe you're right," Sora replied grinning. Kairi managed a laugh as she got back into her bed. She had missed that grin. Menelmon and Aiwemon retrieved the pillows quickly, and Sora and Kairi laid back in their beds, the pillows now under their heads and Kairi's swollen ankle and the sheets over their bodies. Naminé knelt down for a second and kissed Kairi's forehead before she and Roxas went to the door.

"Get better you guys," they said.

"We will," Sora and Kairi simultaneously replied. The blonde princess and knight left, Naminé muttering something about work she had to do, leaving Sora and Kairi with their digimon partners. For a few minutes, they both tried to sleep, but inevitably failed, because for some inexplicable reason one of them would start to laugh at the sound of the other trying to sleep. Eventually they both propped themselves up against the wall so that they could look at one another from opposite sides of the room.

Nurse Ratchet came in with their lunch soon after, and caught them in the middle of discussing music. They had just started singing _Under Pressure_ by Queen, and horribly at that even though they could have done much better. Both of them stopped as they looked at her pursed lips, frowning at Kairi's appearance within the room.

"It was not my decision that Princess Kairi be in this room with you Master Sora," she said with disdain. She was apparently not very happy with the fact that her most important charge had a roommate whose presence would not permit him to rest. "But, Dr. Fraiser is the one who ordered it, something about having to deal with the problems of Sir Roxas and Princess Naminé sneaking out of their rooms to visit one another."

"Well I'm very glad she did," Sora said, smiling at Kairi, "now Kai and I won't have to do that." Kairi giggled and Nurse Ratchet grimaced as she placed Kairi's lunch in front of her on a bed tray. She then gave Sora his lunch and both of them medication for their fevers and left the room. Kairi humourously watched her leave and smirked at Sora.

"Riku's right, she is a bitch," the young princess observed. "Did you see the way she scowled at me when I asked what these pills were for?"

"Yeah I did," Sora sighed, looking down at his lunch.

Soup.

He blanched as he looked at it. It looked like it was _supposed_ to be cream of mushroom soup, which was of course the first item on the menu of international cuisine of any fine restaurant. But when he tasted it, the soup tasted more like water than anything else, and the small amount of mushroom flavour that was in it was estranged and more akin to asparagus than anything else. Sora looked around to see if there was anything he could use to spice it up, pepper, crackers, cumin, salt... but he saw nothing.

_Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it;  
Open up your mouth and feed it._

Kairi's ears perked up and she looked quizzically at the radio. "Is that Weird Al?" Sora looked at her.

"Yeah," he said. "But it couldn't have come on at a worse-" he stopped and his eyes bugged out.

Kairi had a massive bar of chocolate on her tray! Sora felt his tongue go crazy and his mouth water. There had to be a pound of it, just sitting there!

"You have chocolate?" he asked, pleading with his eyes for her to give him some. Kairi slowly and deliberately and deviously broke a small piece of chocolate off of the bar that was resting on her tray next to her soup, and brought it up to her mouth. Sora's eyes pleaded even harder, and Kairi had a change of heart, or maybe it was all part of her plan anyway, and she tossed the piece of chocolate to Sora.

It he fumbled it in his hand and it landed in his soup.

"Whoops," Kairi said. "Nice catch Sora. I bet you're wishing you had that arm now." Sora stuck his tongue out at Kairi.

Aiwemon swallowed next to him. Sora looked at his digimon partner and saw that there was soup around his beak.

"Aiwemon did you?" Sora asked uncertainly.

"That's good chocolate," said the little brown and white bird digimon. Sora was stunned for one second, one crucial second that allowed Aiwemon to fly over next to Menelmon, where Kairi broke off two more pieces for the digimon.

Sora moaned and began to sob as he dipped his spoon into his soup again, hoping beyond hope that some of the chocolate had melted in the steaming bowl and his soup had acquired a little bit of its flavour.

-A-D-

_Yes, I bring it full circle to the horrible soup. It's not the same as the one that Roxas was forced to eat, but it works. Anyone who caught the reference back when I was describing cream of mushroom soup and the menu of international cuisine gets a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie. Here's where the story gets lighter, and darker, and lighter again, and HARDCORE! HOO-RAH!_

_If you didn't get the HARDCORE bit, you soon will. And you will also get, 'Ejo Captain Jack', and 'Here, we go again!'_

_It's election time, remember to vote! If you don't vote, you can't complain!_

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	14. Magic or Science?

_Shire: I wasn't expecting to have to grab some of the characters to do the disclaimer, but thanks to __**Ovan56**__, I needed to grab some people at short notice. The chapter's short because I had some trouble writing it and even had to re-write it once, and we need a short chapter in here for once. Sorry I couldn't book any of the main characters to say the disclaimer this time._

_Anar: So instead he's grabbed his OCs, because he actually can order us around unlike the other guys._

_Jeffery: Yeah, I'm sure Kairi and Naminé love the immunity. Otherwise he'd order them to have a break or something while all the guys do the work, right Kia? (Looks around) Kia?_

_(In a hot spring several kilometres away with Kairi, Naminé, Olette, Yuffie, Selphie, Kia, and Sikora)_

_Selphie: Did any of you hear something?_

_Kia: (Sighing contentedly) Nope. Now let me relax please. I've got a lot on my mind right now._

_(Back to the guys)_

_Isil: Where did she go? She was right here a minute ago._

_Shire: Hey, she's a ranger. Rangers can disappear into the wilds at will almost. And you'll never find them unless they want to be found._

_Jeff: Ah well, Shire Folk does not own anything in this fic except for his plot and OCs like me. The rest is owned by Square-Enix, Disney, various recording artists and video game companies, and a couple of other authors on this site who he pinches stuff off of._

_Shire: With their permission of course._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter XIV: Magic or Science?

The marketplace in Radiant Garden was a usual hive of activity on weekend afternoons, and the Sunday after Maleficent's arrival and the near-death of Princess Kairi was no different, even if the atmosphere was tenser than it would normally have been. The outdoor cafés still attracted a large clientele, and the kids were buying the last of the season's Sea-Salt Ice Cream in droves. It was officially the first day of fall, and the air was getting cooler as the leaves shed their green into yellow, red, brown, and orange.

Roxas stepped onto one of the fallen red leaves of a large poplar tree that lined an avenue into the marketplace. Max was beside him, and the two of them were talking amiably together. They were both concerned as to how the other was faring after they had parted with each other in the Castle That Never Was. Roxas asked Max of his travels with Riku, and Max was inquiring about how Roxas liked being a Knight of Disney Castle and his adventures since their parting.

Roxas' purple and gold cape swished over the top of the damp leaves as a bit of wind picked up. "It hasn't been all fun," he admitted, nodding politely at a couple of girls who waved at him, "Naminé and I have been having a few problems with Radiant Garden's government recently."

"When is dealing with government ever fun?" Max asked rhetorically, a slight smile on his face.

"Well that's self-explanatory," Roxas answered, smiling slightly himself. "There's a group in the government that doesn't like us."

"Us?" Max asked.

"Keyblade Wielders, and the Princesses," Roxas explained. "They don't like the fact that we go about, unchecked or controlled by anything. They say that they've already nearly lost both Naminé and Kairi too many times for their liking. They don't like part of Destiny Islands being lost, or my brother losing his arm. They say that we're a danger to the community and to ourselves, that _we_ allowed Maleficent to become so strong, and that it's our fault that we now need an army to fight her. I'm just glad they haven't found out yet that Sora can't summon his keyblade."

"There's always groups that don't like anything violent, even if war needs to be fought," Max reasoned. "They always try to pin it on some scapegoat. How large is this group?"

"Small," Roxas said, "Maybe four or five MPs. But, I have a feeling that there are more people connected to them."

"They're just windbags who are full of hot air," Max said, waving it off. "You're a knight of Disney Castle, you're untouchable by them with King Mickey's protection. Plus, being a master of the keyblade puts you in the public spotlight, and they've seen you defending their homes and Twilight Town. The people like you."

Roxas laughed. "Yeah, I noticed back when Naminé and I first arrived. Except back then it was because those games starring Sora, Donald, and Goofy, including me in the second one, had popped up in Radiant Garden. That reminds me, you beaten them yet?" Max smiled and shook his head.

"Nah, I'm still too busy going around all the worlds in KH1, trying to get all the pieces I need for the Moogles in Traverse Town to synthesize the Ultima Weapon. And then I still want to beat the secret boss in Agrabah, and the Ice Titan in Olympus Coliseum. I'm not even going to try Sephiroth."

"Don't," Roxas advised sharply. Max stopped and looked at him quizzically. Roxas' face was sterner than he'd ever seen the former nobody before. "I remember everything Sora remembers since before I became whole. He barely survived that battle, and if it wasn't for a whole lot of elixirs and curaga spells, he wouldn't have. He fought him again, in Radiant Garden, but that time Sephiroth was only toying with him so that he would bring Cloud to him. The mere mention of Sephiroth's name still makes Sora quake in fear inside. He'd rather face Maleficent in all her fury than Sephiroth again."

"Hm," Max said, rubbing his chin. "I think I will just skip Sephiroth before I take on Ansem, sorry, Xehanort's heartless."

"Hey, he didn't know that it was only Xehanort's heartless at the time," Roxas laughed. "It's not our fault." Max nodded and paused to look in on a stall selling sunglasses.

"How do you like these ones?" Max asked, picking one set and putting them on. He looked at Roxas and posed with his arms folded.

"You'll never be able to get a date with those things Max," someone said from behind Roxas. "Make you look like a loser." Roxas turned around and Max pulled the sunglasses down onto his nose so that he could look at the speaker.

"Thanks retard," he joked, seeing PJ. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind." He tossed the sunglasses off and onto the table again. "When'd you get here man? I thought that you were still in Disney Castle."

"I was," PJ answered, nodding at Roxas. "But after I heard that there was an attack here by Maleficent, I was able to get myself a trip here with Launchpad."

"Launchpad?" Max asked, his mouth open wide. "I am _so_ sorry man."

"Who's Launchpad?" Roxas asked.

"He's a pilot," Max answered. "Flies Scrooge McDuck around and is King Mickey's backup pilot. His mantra is: 'If it has wings, I can crash it.' I'm sure you get the idea of how good he is." Roxas nodded and silently thanked himself for formerly being the nobody of a keyblade master who had forcibly become a very good pilot, partially due to his skill in combat simulation games. Max tried on another pair of sunglasses, straight on the top with small half-circles beneath.

"How about these?" he asked. PJ laughed.

"I don't know," he said, "how about you ask her?"

"Her?" Max asked, perplexed. Roxas quickly looked around, and he saw that there was a girl standing just a few feet away from PJ, looking around apprehensively at the many people and shops in the marketplace. She was evidently from Disney Castle, as he noted that she was a dog. Long reddish-orange hair graced the sides of her pretty face, and the green blouse and pair of dark blue shorts that ended just above her knees. A dark blue belt with a silver buckle, a heart imprinted in the buckle, was on her hips. All in all, Roxas found that she was quite cute. He glanced at Max, and found that the boy hadn't located her yet.

A smile formed on Roxas' face and he quickly strode up to the girl. She suddenly noticed his approach, and her black eyes quickly darted to the golden mouse-head clasp of his cloak and recognized that he was a knight. She took a step back, but Roxas closed the gap too quickly for her and took her hand.

"I am Sir Roxas Dual Blade," Roxas said, introducing himself with an air of importance and superiority, "Knight of Disney Castle." The girl said nothing, anxious and concerned about the hold on her hand, as well as the power and influence that Roxas held as a knight. Roxas smiled and continued even as Max and PJ looked at him in shock.

"You must be Roxanne," he said, looking into her eyes.

The girl nodded. "Yes," she said apprehensively. Roxas kissed her hand and returned his eyes to Roxanne's.

"I knew it," he said. "My friend Max over here, speaks of you both often and fondly." Roxas let go of Roxanne's hand and she brought it up to her face, the appendage quickly becoming pink.

"He does?" Roxanne asked, giggling slightly.

"Yes he does," Roxas said, noting that PJ was laughing silently behind him while Max's eyes were begging him to stop embarrassing him. "In fact, Max frequently mentions that he'd like to ask you out."

"That's enough Roxas," Max snapped, barging past PJ as the youth allowed his laughs to become audible. Roxas nodded at Roxanne.

"Pleasure meeting you," he said. Roxanne smiled.

"The pleasure was all mine," she returned. Roxas kissed her hand again and stepped aside to see Max, his face red as a tomato. Roxanne looked at him. "Hey Max."

Max stopped dead, and one of his hands went up to fiddle with the red band he'd tied onto his forehead. "Oh... Hey, Roxanne. What, what are you doing here?"

"I came with PJ," she said, her voice a little quieter than before. "I hope you weren't hurt last night."

"Nah," Max said. "If anything, I should be asking you how you are. You were with Launchpad."

"It wasn't... too bad I guess," Roxanne said. "Are Gummi ships supposed to start falling apart when they arrive at their destination?"

Roxas and Max found their faces being drained of blood as they looked at Roxanne, unable or unwilling to believe that she had just said that. Roxanne took one look at both of their faces and suddenly became very frightened.

"Is that really bad then?" Roxas looked at Max.

"Is Launchpad _that_ horrible of a pilot?" he asked.

"He can dogfight," PJ answered for him. "We ran into a bunch of heartless ships along the way, and he was able to take care of them, but Launchpad also rammed some of the ships, and he bumped us into the terrain several times." Roxas gave a feeble laugh.

"If you can crash into that stuff, then I'd need to have the courage of a lion to-" he stopped, an idea suddenly coming to him.

"Sir Roxas?" Roxanne asked.

"Just call me Roxas," he answered. "And I just thought of something that could work. See you guys later!" Roxas turned around and bolted down the road, ignoring Max yelling after him.

It was perfect, Roxas realized. There could be nothing to stop it from working, nothing at all. Kairi had thought that her plan was perfect, Roxas knew that his was.

He weaved amongst the people shops, and moogles, down from the marketplace into the first borough. The roads were less busy here, only a few people lining the edges of the buildings or the bottom of the city's southern wall. Their heads turned in interest as they watched him running past, confused for only a second before returning to their conversations or continuing on their way.

Roxas rounded the corner tightly, skidding at his speed and crashing into the building on his left. It didn't matter to him though, and he just ran forward to the door of Merlin's house.

"I've got it!" he yelled, quickly pulling open the door. All he heard and saw within the first couple of seconds was the clap of hands and the electric crackle of Ed's right arm forming a hand blade, inches from his throat.

Ed and Roxas blinked twice. "Oh it's you," Ed said, pulling his arm back and clapping again, the hand blade melting back into his automail arm. Roxas took a quick glance around the room. Ed and Al were in there, as well as Leon, Merlin, Cid, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Tom.

"Uptight Ed?" Roxas asked.

"Up?" Tom asked, "Shorty 'ere could live inside of a matchbox." Alphonse quickly grabbed hold of Edward, the blonde's face already steaming red.

"Let me at him Al!" Ed yelled, his eyes burning with an evil fury. "We'll see who can live in a matchbox after I've cut him into ribbons!"

"Brother leave him be," Al said. "He's only joking."

"Well I don't call that smirk joking!" Ed retorted, glaring at Tom as he did smirk and folded his arms.

"While it would be fun to scrap with tiny 'ere," he said, "I 'ave business wit' Axel to attend to. So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen adieu." Tom teleported away, and Al let a steaming Edward down.

"That kid's got issues," Cid commented from his computer. Roxas couldn't help but nod and made his way to Merlin's round table, where the others were standing around.

"What have you got Roxas?" King Mickey asked.

"Your Majesty, I have the perfect location where we can send Sora so that he can recover the confidence in himself he needs to summon the keyblade again."

"Good," King Mickey said. "We were just talking about that. Goofy suggested Atlantica but I'm not sure that King Triton would approve too much. Squall-"

"Leon," Leon cut in.

"-thought that Olympus Coliseum would do well," King Mickey continued without missing a beat. "Hercules went through something like Sora's going through now on Sora's last adventure when he passed through that world."

"And Phil would knock some sense into him," Donald added.

"Where were you thinking Roxas?" Goofy asked.

Roxas rubbed the back of his head. He'd really just kinda thought of the idea, he would have to quickly come up with a reason as to why it was good. "Well..." he said in a long breath, stalling for time. "I thought that Pride Lands would be a good choice."

"Pride Lands?" Donald commented. "Why Pride Lands?"

_Damn_, Roxas thought. _Had to ask why right away. Thanks Donald._

"Well..." he began at length, realizing that he'd better think fast. "Sora's still really bummed out about Mom, and he's still blaming himself because we weren't there."

"That's right," Goofy said. "And Simba lost his Dad, Mufasa, when he was just a cub, and for years he thought that it was all his fault."

"And then there was the Scar ghost," Jiminy piped up, appearing from Goofy's hat. "Simba had lost his confidence as a leader too, when Scar's ghost kept appearing."

"Maybe Simba could help Sora," Leon said. "Just as you guys helped Simba." Roxas smiled. Perfect, they came up with the reasons for him. It was brilliant!

"Who's Simba?" Al asked.

"A lion," Roxas said, barely glancing at them.

"A lion!" Ed exclaimed in surprise. "You guys are friends with a lion?"

"Look at three, sorry, four of the people you're talking to kid," Cid said without even looking up from his computer screen. Roxas watched as Ed's eyes took in the fact that he was talking to an oversized mouse, who was a king, a duck, a dog, and a cricket.

"He he," Ed laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Guess I forgot that for a second. What's a keyblade anyway?"

"Why a keyblade is this Edward," King Mickey said, holding out his hand and calling his keyblade to him. The eyes of the two alchemists bugged out as they gazed at the blade that had materialized out of thin air.

"How did you do that?" Al asked.

"Magnets," Roxas answered. Donald smacked him on the head.

"Magic," he corrected. "Palooka."

"There's no such thing as magic," Ed said. "Everything is based in science, like alchemy."

"Well magic exists boy," Merlin said in a huff. He had every right to be angry with Edward; he was one of the most powerful magicians in the worlds. "So you'd better update your old-fangled notions about the universe."

"Alert the media, I think the old loon's finally going to digitize his books," Cid said.

"Magic does not exist," Al said. "It's alchemy and science."

"So what is alchemy then?" Leon asked.

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return," Al said. "To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange."

"Ah, but it is the same with magic boy," Merlin said. "Except what we lose is energy, and occasionally, special physical components that we need to use spells."

"Sounds like alchemy to me," Ed said. Roxas shook his head and summoned Twilight Thorn to his right hand. Edward started slightly upon seeing the blade suddenly in Roxas' previously empty hands.

"Can alchemy make something disappear without changing it into something else?" Roxas asked. He released his hold on his keyblade and let the magical weapon disappear again. He then called and banished it several times, all to Ed's annoyance. Ed backed up into Al, and Alphonse twisted around, causing a podium with a book on it to fall to the ground, smacking into another table with a vase full of daffodils. The vase toppled and fell with a crash, breaking into a half a dozen pieces.

"Sorry," Al said, waving his hands in embarrassment and bending down, "but don't worry, I can fix it." He quickly drew a strange circle on the ground with a piece of chalk and placed the broken vase in the centre. Al placed his hands on the rim of the circle and it suddenly glowed with a yellow light. Almost a second later, the vase was repaired.

"I can't return the water to it though," Al admitted, holding it up meekly.

"No need to worry about that," King Mickey said, pointing his keyblade at the vase. "Water." The way that the water emerged from his keyblade's tip was not what Roxas expected. Where before he had always seen gushing jets or balls of water leaving, it now looked like it was simply coming out of a watering can.

"Whereas you used the vase itself in your transmutation to fix it Alphonse Elric," Merlin said. "We simply use mana, our magical energy, to perform magic. And, with continued practice, our mana stores grow and we are able to cast multiple spells of increasing power. And, it also has the advantage of not being equivalent exchange. When our mana stores run low however, our own physical energy starts taking the toll, and we grow tired."

"Didn't you tell Kairi when she was arguing with you that it was equivalent?" Roxas asked.

"I most certainly did not tell her that it was equivalent!" Merlin snapped. "If you were to create a chair strictly out of energy transforming into matter, it would require far more energy than you realize. You take for granted the magical effects and abilities that simply being a wielder of the keyblade gives you. If it weren't for holding the keyblade, it would have taken substantially longer for any of you to be at all adept at controlling or using magic, and even then most of what you use are simple elemental spells, occasionally modified to your fancy as you use them."

"What's he talking about?" Al asked.

"What Merlin means is that Sora, and Riku, and Kairi, and Roxas, and Naminé don't use much magic apart from elementary magic," Goofy said.

"_Elemental_ magic Goofy," Donald corrected.

"Ahyuk, right Donald, elemental."

"So stuff like thunder, water, ice, air, earth," Roxas said, holding a curled hand in front of him, which was slowly beginning to light up in reddish light, "or fire." A fireball suddenly burst into existence, floating in his palm as it crackled and lit up his face. Roxas lifted his hand and then dropped it again, letting the fireball slowly rise until it was about level with the top spikes of his blonde hair. The abruptly burst, sending flames shooting off in all directions. The flames flapped, and each of them swiftly took the shape of birds, flying through the air and singing songs in shrill fiery cries. They circled and flew around Edward, causing him to constantly turn around to look at the fire birds as they flew around his red cape. The birds all broke from their circling at once and flew past Donald's head towards the centre of the table. They came together again, and formed now into a fiery dragon. It's blazing, leathery wings flapped and the air rustled underneath with a _fwoop_ at every beat. It circled around, past Merlin and Leon, and came rushing at Ed again, roaring with more fire curling out of its flaming maw.

"That is enough," Merlin said abruptly, waving his brown wand at the fire dragon. The dragon suddenly closed its mouth, extinguishing the additional flames it would have shot, and abruptly veered away from Ed seconds before it would have flown into his face. It circled the ceiling once, and then swooped down to curl up in the fireplace. Merlin tossed a gold coin to it, and the dragon gave a loud yawn, contented that it now had treasure to guard. The logs underneath were already starting to catch, and the fire construct fell asleep in the comfortably hot place.

Donald crossed his arms and smirked at the awed expression on Edward Elric's face. "Can you do _that_ with alchemy?"

Ed was silent.

-A-D-

Kia knocked quietly on a room door in the hospital in the evening. She had been feeling somewhat sick, and she felt that she'd be better off talking to someone else who was probably going through the same thing.

"Go away," came the voice from inside the room. It sounded highly annoyed.

"I'm only going to be here for a little while," Kia said.

"Oh it's you Kia," said the voice. "You can come in. I thought it was the nurse or Olette."

"Thanks Hayner," Kia said, moving into the room. Hayner had been lying down on his bed on his side, but when he heard Kia's voice, he rolled over and sat up, grimacing through the pain. He had been hit by three ricocheting bullets in his legs. Two in the right leg in the sides of the shin, and one near the ankle of the left.

Kia sat down on the bed next to Hayner and averted her eyes from his. She was both comfortable, and extremely uncomfortable.

"So," Hayner began. "What'd you come down here for? Wouldn't you rather be out in the Sun or something?"

"I need an excuse to visit an injured friend?" Kia asked rhetorically.

"Kia, if you were just coming for a visit, you would have showed up with the others, not by yourself," Hayner answered. "What's up?" Kia was silent for a while. She really didn't know how to put it into words what she was feeling that was making her stomach somersault in squeamish bounds.

"I-" she began, but then stopped, unsure of herself. Hayner raised an eyebrow. He hadn't known Kia for very long, but in that time he'd come to recognize that she was generally confident and independent, preferring to follow the path that she'd set at her feet. Now though, it looked as if she was lost.

"How did we get through last night?" Kia asked at last. "They were shooting at us! We could have been killed so easily. I- I was so afraid after I got back behind cover."

Hayner placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I have no idea how we got through without getting killed," he said. "Maybe there's some higher power watching over us. But what I do know is that I was scared too."

"You were scared?" Kia asked incredulously. "I heard that you were level-headed throughout it all."

"I was terrified," Hayner corrected her. "Fighting the heartless and nobodies before didn't scare me as much as last night. The only thing I can say is that I guess I put the fear out of my mind, otherwise I probably wouldn't have been able to move in order to fight those- those guys." Kia noticed his slip-up, and the bite of his tongue.

"You killed one too," she said quietly, "didn't you?" Hayner silently nodded next to her.

"Yeah," he said. "I got one. You did too then, right?"

"Yeah," said Kia. "I killed last night too." She sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "All I could see as I lay awake last night was my arrow sinking into his heart and him crumpling down, over and over again."

"Him falling down as I stabbed through his chest," Hayner added, his voice breaking as it became harder for him to speak. "He was haunting me all last night. I- I can still smell his blood on my sword, and I've washed it at least a dozen times when nobody was watching! How do you get over something like that?"

Kia shook her head. "I don't know." She looked down again, and placed her hand on Hayner's shoulder so that it wasn't just him comforting her. "Maybe, with time, we'll get over it."

"How are we going to do it again?" Hayner asked quickly. "If we're going to be fighting Maleficent still, there's going to be more of them. How are we supposed to force ourselves to kill again?"

"You will," said a voice from the doorway. They looked up and saw Vincent Valentine standing watch over them. The two cringed slightly at the eeriness of his voice.

"It will sting and hurt you," Vincent said, "and you will carry the knowledge with you for the rest of your life. But, when you get down to the moment of life and death, you will be surprised at what you can do when you're completely consumed by fear."

"But," Kia asked, "How are we supposed to fight again? If I see another one of those soldiers, I don't think I'd be able to stand, let alone fire my bow."

"It's because you still have a hope," Vincent said. "You still believe that you'll survive this. Once you accept the fact that you're already dead, it'll be much easier to do what you have to. Only at the end, if you're still alive, you can start believing that you're actually alive."

Kia and Hayner were quiet at Vincent's words. They didn't make sense to their conscious minds, and yet, they also came through to their hearts as words of truth.

"So," Hayner said slowly. "If I, we, want to be able to go through with this, truly battling the forces of evil and stopping Maleficent, we have to believe that we're going to die in the next battle?"

"Not the next one Hayner," Vincent chuckled slightly. "That's getting ahead of yourself, just somewhere along the way."

"Then, if we believe that we aren't going to get out of this alive," Kia began, looking suspiciously at Vincent, "then-?"

"You'll be alive," answered Vincent. "It's a weird paradox, I know, but once you accept that you're dead, you'll have a better chance of living."

"But," Hayner began, "Sora never believed that he'd die."

"Sora's a special case," Vincent said.

"Yeah," Kia said. "He's a hero."

"You survive long enough," said Vincent, starting to move out, "and you may become heroes too."

"But Vincent," Hayner said with a smirk, "I thought we were already dead?"

"You aren't actually dead until you're dead," Vincent said, leaving. "Make the most of your time and take as many of them with you."

Vincent left, and Hayner and Kia looked at each other for a few seconds.

"That help you any?" Hayner asked. Kia shrugged.

"A little bit," she said. "But I still feel sick with myself a bit too. How about you?"

Hayner was quiet for a second. "I'm not sure, but we'll know if it helped when the moment next comes." He checked the time and glanced over at his bedside table.

"I've got to take my meds now," he said, somewhat ashamedly. "And they kinda put me out like a light. Plus, it is getting near the time when visiting hours are over..."

"Oh, don't worry about it Hayner," said Kia, shoving herself off of the bed. "I'll find something to do."

"There is one consolation to being in our position," Hayner commented before Kia left, filling his glass up with water from a pitcher.

"Hm?" Kia asked, turning around. Hayner took the pills and drank his water, draining it before answering Kia.

"I've heard," he finished, "that the first one is always the hardest. They get easier after that. What are you planning on doing?"

"I don't know," Kia said, partly in answer to his question and partly in response to his comment. "I was thinking that I'd go and find some of everyone, then go out for a late movie."

"Anar going to be included in that group?" Hayner asked, smirking. Kia's face turned red.

"Maybe," she said. She left quickly as Hayner laughed loudly.

-A-D-

As the night passed into the morning of Monday, the 22nd of September, Sora slept fitfully in his bed. He was sweating, and horribly turning and twisting. His face was scrunched up while his hand desperately clung to the bed's sheets.

"No," Sora mumbled in his sleep. "No. This can't- this can't be happening!" He turned fiercely on the bed, and his mouth opened in a strangled gasp of pain as his back arched up. "No! Riku, Axel, Tidus... Mother!" He jolted upright in his bed, his cry waking him from his restless slumber. Sora's eyes stared unseeingly forward into the darkness of the room. He saw Kairi's sleeping body to his left shifting about and heard her moan from across the room.

"What is it Sora?" she asked drowsily, half asleep. "Is it morning yet?"

"No Iri," Sora said soothingly, looking directly at her as the waxing moon's light slightly illuminated her. "It's nothing, go back to sleep." Kairi nodded and yawned deeply.

"Oh, okay," she said. "Night Sora. Wait, did you just call me 'Iri'?"

Sora smiled. "Yes I did, should I stop?" He saw her shake her head slightly.

"No," mumbled Kairi, "I like it. Iri, it sounds nice..." Within the next ten seconds, Kairi was asleep again, and Sora's face slowly lost its smile.

He plopped back down onto his bed in a cold sweat. He was freezing, but his head burned with the fever that was finally coming into its own. It had taken him ages to fall asleep, but now his dreams were punctuated by something he hoped he wouldn't see again.

Anti was troubling him.

-A-D-

_Yeah, short. But I told you guys it would be short and for once, I got everything that I wanted done in as few words as I wanted._

_Anti... (growls) I don't like him._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	15. Sora's Automail

_I'm glad, and also regret to inform you, that my weekly updates on Sundays, only changed slightly due to my mood, schedule, and the request of one for the last two updates, may be withheld from week to week. I have a temporary position working 0800-1630 on weekdays, on Monday nights I am a Cub Leader, I have Cadets on Thursday nights in which I have to prepare lesson plans and the minutes of Senior's Meetings in advance because I'm the Secretary of the Mess (actual squadron rank of F/Sgt.), and I have Bowling Sunday nights and I still Golf occasionally on Sunday mornings._

_Funny, I thought that not going to school for a year would make my life somewhat... less busy..._

_Disclaimer: (Shoots the disclaimer) You all know this by now._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter XV: Sora's Automail

Sora awoke again in the morning, his entire body freezing in a cold sweat while his forehead blistered with searing heat. He turned (making sure not to wake Aiwemon sleeping next to him) and carefully poured himself a glass of water, his head aching while the Sun's light filtered into the room, stinging his eyes. He hated being sick, everyone hated being sick, but what he hated even more was that he knew that he was directly responsible for his illness.

He set down the crystal water jug and lifted his mostly full glass. He sipped some of the cool liquid down his parched throat before placing the glass against his burning forehead. It was painful, the temperature difference between his skin and the solid glass. Sora sipped some more water after the glass's coolness was lost to his clammy forehead, and set the drinking implement down.

He looked over at Kairi, still asleep in her bed but stirring slightly with Menelmon beside her, and smiled a bit. If it wasn't for Kairi, he wouldn't have gone out in the storm and given himself the fever that now ravaged his body, and Kairi's as well he noted. However, Kairi's noble action had to some tiny degree made him proud of her, even though she would have been killed had they not managed to find her in time. After all, he would have done the same thing had he been in her position. No, he wouldn't have done the same thing; he'd already done it in front of Saïx, and he'd do it again.

And Kairi's crest had glowed. He remembered what Gennai had said concerning both his and Kairi's crests. Since her crest glowed, she'd be able to Drive like he had back when he was adventuring the second time. He wondered what forms she'd turn into...

Sora blushed and mentally chastised himself for daydreaming of Kairi like that. She'd look beautiful to him no matter what her outfit changed into when she went into a form. He glanced at Kairi again and sighed as he gazed fondly at her red hair parting over her face, slightly obscuring her closed eyelids and cheeks, and he was concerned by the red skin on her forehead. He truly was in love with her to know that she was still attractive even when she was sick.

Sick. Sora reminded himself that he was sick too, and no amount of love for Kairi would overcome the raking chills that were tormenting him. He picked up the glass again and rubbed it against his forehead, cringing and closing his eyes at its newfound coldness before drinking some more of the water and falling back into bed.

Kairi stirred and moaned in the other bed. Sora heard the slap of her hand to her forehead.

"Ow," she groaned painfully, wincing. "I should not have done that so hard."

"How are you feeling Kai?" Sora asked, propping himself up slightly to look at her, though it made his head swim.

"Uhg," answered Kairi, rolling to look at him. "Like Axel and Roxas are stuck in my head. I think too much of the pyro rubbed off on your brother." Sora laughed slightly and held his head with his hand.

"I'm freezing and burning," he said. "I don't know if I could concentrate enough to either encase my head in ice, or to barbeque the rest of me, or both." Kairi tossed a sheet that was on the ground near her bed at him.

"Take this," she said. "And give it five minutes, you'll be burning up all over and your head will be frozen. It happened to me all last night. I hate being sick," she continued quietly, "and I hate you being sick."

"Five more minutes," Aiwemon mumbled as the sheet landed over top of him, Sora missing the catch. He laughed but permitted the rookie to sleep.

"Why don't we agree that neither of us love being sick at the same time Kai?" Sora asked. "Because neither of us can take care of the other if we're both sick."

"You can't, but I can," said Dr. Frasier, walking into the room. A clipboard was in her arm and a pen in her pocket. She smiled at the both of them. "How you feeling?"

"Like a complete mess," Sora answered weakly, another sweaty chill forcing him to wilt. Fraiser looked at Kairi.

"The crew of the _Flying Dutchman_ have it easy compared to this," said Kairi, placing her hand to her burning forehead again. Dr. Fraiser pursed her lips.

"Well if that's how the two of you feel I'll get you some soup and juice," she said sympathetically. "And I'll make sure that the soup is better than some of the other stuff you might have had. But first," she strode up to Sora and placed her clipboard on his bedside table across from him just as the clock-radio turned on to music. Dr. Fraiser sat down on the bed next to him.

"I'm better versed in medicines and potions and medical procedures," she explained as she placed her right hand over Sora's head. "And not nearly as good in curative magic as your friend Aerith Gainsborough is, but I'll do what I can to help ease the fever." It started at her fingertips, and then moved until her whole hand was shining a blue light onto Sora's forehead.

Some relief came to him as the magic touched and soothed him. The burning sensation in his forehead lessened, and the rest of his body warmed a bit. The sweat all over his body was still there, but it was now more tolerable than before. Dr. Fraiser then moved over and did the same spell with Kairi, and the young princess had to feel her head again just to make absolutely sure that the fire the burned just beneath her skin had died a little.

"What spell is that?" she asked.

"What'sgoingon?" Menelmon slurred in her sleep, the light from the spell waking her slightly.

"Esuna," Fraiser answered with a smile, partially ignoring the rookie level digimon. "It is supposed to cure most ailments and help against common bacterial and viral infections, such as a cold. When you're as good in using esuna as Dr. Gainsborough and some powerful magicians such as your friends Merlin and Donald Duck are, it can even bring back people that have been turned to stone."

Sora looked at Dr. Fraiser with amazement. A spell to return those who had been turned to stone to normal. Why had he never heard of it before? Why had he not known about it when he could have turned Aiwemon back from an ornament in a rock garden?

"From stone?" Sora asked, glancing at Aiwemon before looking at Fraiser again. He had to make sure.

"Yes," Dr. Fraiser answered. "But there's also a specific spell for that known as 'Stona'. If you want to learn some more of the white magic spells though, I'm not really the one to go to. I only know a little. However, a gold needle will also cure a person turned to stone."

"You sure know your stuff," Kairi observed. Dr. Fraiser looked at her again and smiled once more.

"I have to," she said, getting up. "After all, I need to keep princesses like you, and heroes like you Sora, alive and well when you aren't up to the job."

Sora sighed and dejectedly shook his head. "I'm no hero. I couldn't even save my home or mother. What kind of hero is that?"

"Don't say that Sora," Kairi pleaded quietly. "I- I don't like hearing you like this."

Dr. Fraiser ignored Kairi's statement and turned to look at Sora, her face impassive. "Last time I checked, you lost your homeworld the first time you saved the worlds and were also forced to look for Kairi and your friend Riku before he turned to the darkness."

"But my world and mother still had the chance of coming back from the darkness after we defeated Xehanort's heartless," Sora argued. "There's no chance of that now. So what do I have this time?"

"Freedom," Fraiser answered. Sora and Kairi both looked at her inquisitively. She sighed and looked away slightly. "I know it's unorthodox, but when you're finished this time, there's nothing to tie you down. You can plant your roots wherever you want them, become whatever you please when the mantle of 'Saviour of the Worlds' no longer needs to be worn. You can be like a bird, caged, and then released into the sky."

She looked at her clipboard. "I have more rounds to make. I'll be sure to send you both a better grade of soup. Good morning Sora, Kairi."

Even after Dr. Fraiser had left and he was sipping on his soup, Sora's thoughts were still on her words. _Freedom_, he thought sarcastically. He sure didn't feel free at all.

Kairi watched Sora sympathetically through her own troubles. She grieved for him, even though much worse had befallen her. Her feelings had taken too many swings over the past few weeks for her to even begin to comprehend just what her emotions were right now. At first she had been devastated to learn about the deaths of her adoptive mother and father, and then it was surmounted by righteous fury and a desire for revenge against Maleficent. After she had woken up with Pocahontas however, all thoughts towards her deceased guardians were put into the back of her mind until she and Sora told the digidestined, digimon, and Leomon about Maleficent and her evil, in which she once more grieved inside, though to a lesser degree, and her anger had surfaced to the forefront again. She had been devastated again when she had gone to Destiny Islands, and all thought of being able to exact revenge on Maleficent had slowly melted away with all four conflicts she'd survived tangling with the witch.

Now though... after seeing Naminé again and starting to regain memories of her former life as a young child she had thought had been erased entirely, seeing the faces of her true mother and father, and brother; knowing that they too were all gone and that the only family she had now was Naminé, Sora, Riku, and all of her friends, she supposed that she had come to terms with the deaths in her family. But amongst all of it, apart from when she still lived on Radiant Garden, Sora and Riku were there for her, and they were still here for her.

But Sora still had not seemed able to forgive himself for Anne's or Felra's fall. Roxas apparently had, but his older twin by consensus was still moping about in the past and letting it haunt him.

Kairi knew that she was able to help soothe and ease Sora through most of the hardships he'd suffered, and it helped that it worked the other way around too, but she was lost and didn't know how she was supposed to comfort him through this trauma.

-A-D-

"You're leaving?" King Mickey asked.

Cossex nodded. "Yes," she answered. "My heart is not here. I must continue to search for it if I wish to become whole again. And I don't believe that the people of this world like me being here."

"They don't take too kindly to me either," said Axel, leaning against a wall in Merlin's house. "But I don't care what they think, got it memorized?"

"I think we memorized it ages ago," Sal said, frowning at Axel.

"Where will you go?" Goofy asked. "If Maleficent finds you, she'll destroy you."

"I know," Cossex answered. "That's why I don't intend to be found, not until I've found my heart and become who I am again."

"So where will you go?" asked Riku, restating Goofy's question. The Thought Crusher shook her head.

"I can't say," she answered. "If one of you were captured, you could reveal my location, and my search must be as secret as possible."

"Alright then," King Mickey said hesitantly. "If you're sure that this is what you want to do, just make sure that if you see any heartless-"

"I'll take care of them," Cossex finished for him. "She's my enemy too, Your Majesty." A portal of darkness opened behind her, and Cossex backed into it, the portal closing swiftly after she had entered.

"I hope she finds her heart," Axel said quietly after she had gone. "It feels good, to be whole again."

"Axel," began Riku, looking at the former Nobody. "If you're whole again, who were you before? And why do you still use the name that Xemnas gave you?" Axel chuckled softly to himself.

"My name before was 'Ale'," he answered. "And I ask you, would _you_ like to be named after a drink? I like being 'Axel' just fine."

Sade snorted. "Ale," he laughed to himself.

"Sade, go do your chores like your sister," Sal reprimanded his son, not liking him laughing at Axel.

"What chores?" Sade queried. "We aren't at home!" Sal nudged his head to the side.

"Go look after the chocobos," said Sal, jerking his head a little more when Sade did not move. "Go on, unless you'd rather get one of the people here to fly you back to Dunash so you can go to school. It _is_ a Monday." His son muttered something to himself and stalked out of Merlin's house.

"Ale," Cid laughed not more than three seconds after the door had closed after the boy. Axel's teal eyes flashed.

"Want me to burn that toothpick Cid?" he asked.

"Or should we 'ave the little mice burn it instead?" Tom asked, holding up a cage filled up with small white mice.

"Where'd you get those?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Liberated them from a lab," Tom answered. "Coats were experimenting on them, made the mice able to breathe fire."

"You mean you stole them," Sal said, his eyes narrowing. Tom shrugged.

"They breathe fire?" Merlin asked, looking closer into the cage. A small jet of fire left the mouth of one of the squeaking mammals and Merlin leapt back quickly to ensure that his long white beard (two centuries old) did not burn to bits of tiny black stubble.

The fire dragon in the hearth snorted a slight stream of flame that was taken to be laughter at Merlin's expense. Merlin turned and glared at the magical construct. Despite his present irritation at the elemental creature, he was quite amazed at its longevity. The dragon still looked as if it had just been conjured a second before, even if it was really many hours. What amazed him more was that it had been Roxas that had created the creature, and Roxas wasn't really the greatest shakes with magic when he was compared to his twin, or with either princess. The only ones he could really be said to be better at magic than were Riku and Goofy, but Riku's attacks with his power of Dawn were still classified as magic and were greater than Roxas' own spells. Roxas could only be said to be better than Riku in the sense that Roxas knew more magic than Riku did.

However, it also interested both Merlin and the King that Roxas could still summon the Samurai Nobodies to him while Axel was no longer able to control the movements of what were previously his Assassins. It struck them both as a little odd, and Roxas' explanation that because Axel had truly died rather than just merging with his other (his own and Naminé's _very_ special cases that the oblivious knight had failed to remember), didn't quite fit. Because if that were the case, then Naminé, herself a powerful Nobody in being able to retain a human form when she was one, should at least have been able to control Creepers or Dusks, both comprising of the lowest ranks of the Nobodies.

Merlin put that out of his mind for the moment and turned away from the dragon, lazily closing its eyes again, and glanced around the room. The King was in attendance along with Donald and Goofy. Axel was here as well, and Mulan with Mushu and Cricky. Sora's uncle Sal was present, and until a few moments ago, so was his son Sade. Tom was there and Roxas was too, and Cid, Shalua, Pinako and Winry. Tidus was there to boot, but Merlin did not know why. Leon was out on the campaign trail, at least giving the image of trying to get re-elected before the people went to the polling stations on October 15th, Aerith was at work at the hospital, Yuffie and Tifa were at the Seventh Heaven, Yuffie working for Tifa until she'd leave with Riku again and until Tifa would leave to join in the effort, partially in the hopes of finding someone. Barrett was with his daughter Marlene, and Vincent was off somewhere else.

The wizard didn't really pay much mind as to where the others were. They had business to attend to at the moment, and those who did have it were probably enjoying a day without school, somehow managing to worm their way around not going back to the world of Twilight Town yet despite the urgings of some of their parents. Merlin concentrated instead on the objects sitting on his round table right next to the teapot and sugar. There was a mechanical arm and a metal plate, a hole in the centre of the plate that gave Merlin the idea that it was the socket into which the arm would go.

"So this is automail," he mused, looking at it. "And you say that it fully functions as a normal arm does?"

"It does," Pinako said, puffing on her pipe. "What we must do first is attach the plate to the boy's shoulder, connecting each of his nerves there to the circuits in the plate and attach small receptors to the ends of those that go to the arm. The arm will then be connected to the plate, fitting into the socket, and clamped down, connecting its circuits to the nerves. He'll be able to control it as if he had never lost his arm at all."

"Quite ingenious," Merlin said, stepping back and letting Tidus come forward for a closer inspection of the arm. "It must be very difficult, meticulous work."

"It is," Shalua answered for Pinako, causing everyone to look at her instead. "I learned everything I know from Pinako here; trust me when I say that it is hard." She shifted her weight slightly and moved her arm, her mechanical one. It wasn't automail, but it was the same premise.

"How will you do it?" Sal asked, looking at the plate and arm with more than a little discomfort. It would be his nephew that these devices would become a part of.

"We have to do a little surgery to do it," Winry said, stretching her arms back. She was planning on getting a lot of sleep before they performed the operation in eighteen hours at ten in the morning of the next day. She had pulled an all-nighter, her second in the last week, to get the automail finished so quickly. "And Sora will have to be kept off of food before we can do it, so no supper, and no breakfast. Liquids are okay though."

"That'll be fine," Roxas said, looking up slightly. "All he's been having is soup."

"What'll the operation be like?" Goofy asked.

"Painful," Pinako replied steadily. "We have to keep him fully conscious in order to make sure that we have all of the nerves fully connected to the circuits so that nothing will go wrong when he uses his arm."

"How painful?" Roxas asked. He was particularly concerned. If Sora was going to be in a great amount of physical pain, he'd probably feel some of it too in sympathy for his twin brother. Kairi would probably also feel that he was in pain, but probably wouldn't feel it.

"Even a grown man will cry and scream," Pinako answered calmly. "Edward is no exception no matter how much he tries to hide it. And every time that Sora will need to come in for maintenance and possibly a new arm if he grows, we will have to disconnect and reconnect his arm each time, and he will be subject to the pain again. It is not an easy thing to live with at first, but he will get used to it."

"Ouch," Tidus said, wincing and falling back. He made a face and looked both at Roxas and Riku, each of them bearing the same uncomfortable, uncertain looks.

None of them envied Sora anymore.

"How do you think he'll take it?" Mulan asked.

"Better than Roxas would," answered Riku. Roxas glowered at him and Merlin shook his head. The two never did seem to get along too well after they had fought each other in the World That Never Was. Both of them had had their prides bruised in those battles.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Roxas asked sharply. Riku didn't answer him with anything more than a light grunt.

"'E means that 'e doesn't think you can handle it," Tom replied, sniggering slightly at Roxas.

"Who asked you?" he queried, drilling Tom for the clarification. Tom held up his cage of fire-breathing mice and Roxas pulled his head back to avoid a small plume of smoke that came from the mouth of one.

"Ha!" Mushu said. "He couldn't roast a duck." Mushu then carefully eyed Donald, who was leering at him with the tip of his staff beginning to ice over. "No offence intended Donald. I was just saying that duck is one of China's more fine delicacies."

Donald's entire white head slowly began turning an unhealthy shade of red.

Mushu waved his hands apologetically. This wasn't helping his predicament. Why was it so easy to tick Donald off? "Wha- what I meant to say was, is that duck is so great that it wouldn't be able to make it live up to its name." Donald started jabbering incoherently and Cricky made several chirps.

"What?" Mushu asked, looking at the little lucky insect with disbelief. "What do you mean I should run for my life?" Cricky raised one of his legs and pointed at Donald, who was just about ready to pounce on Mushu and strangle him like a little lizard. Mushu's ears flattened down against the sides of his head.

He was inching away from the mad duck very slowly, but Donald was advancing. Throwing caution to the winds, Mushu screamed and bolted for the door, Donald wildly in pursuit, frozen ice cubes blitzing after the guardian dragon.

"Oh Mushu," Mulan sighed affectionately, shaking her head. "What would I do without him?" Mushu's head appeared in the now open doorway.

"You're life would be very boring," he answered. "That's what. Hey! That's cold! Don't make me remind you that I'm the indestructible Mushu!" They all shared a laugh as Mushu vanished from sight again, Donald still spluttering angrily.

Tidus picked up the automail on the table and looked at the fingers and the arm socket closely, feeling his own with his other hand. "You're going to do it tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yep," Winry answered. "In the morning around ten. I plan to get at least a little sleep before then." She yawned and went back towards a door that led up to a second floor in Merlin's house, desiring that rest. Tidus looked at the automail uneasily. It didn't seem right, he decided. When it boiled right down to it, he would rather feel whole again than entirely missing an arm. But it still just didn't seem right to have a metal arm.

But it was Sora's choice. If this was really what Sora wanted, then he'd support him. But there were numerous things that he knew that he'd done and seen that weren't right either. Maestor Seymour Guado was one, Sin, and killing his own father were others.

-A-D-

"So what's happening?" Agent Rachel Quin asked as Agent Brad Wright put down the receiver. The two other members of their team were also assembled in Wright's office. Another one of each gendre, both in their late twenties and early thirties, the man was dressed smartly in a black suit, while the woman wore a black jacket over a white blouse and black skirt. The man's red hair was thick and his green eyes were looking at Wright with interest, his hands folded in front of him, a gold band prominently across the ring finger of his left hand. The woman had her raven hair long, and her gray eyes kept flicking between the younger Rachel and their boss.

Both were in the loop of course, but both of them were also disappointed that they only got to hear the Princess' and Keyblade Masters' voice over the recordings instead of actually having met them. Truthfully, Wright and Quin hadn't met Princess Kairi or Riku either, however, they had been granted the pleasure of meeting Sora.

"Well?" the woman, Agent Natalie Ritter, asked. "Don't keep us in suspense chief." Wright sighed and slowly looked up at his team.

The Federal Investigative Service Team was an organization of special operatives. A secret service that went and did the jobs that nobody believed could be achieved or that nobody wanted to do. They went undercover in plain sight of the enemy and found out their weaknesses, informing their side and getting out before the enemy even knew they were being targeted or attacked. They weren't all field agents; in fact a great number of FIST operatives worked in the office as analysts, deciphering the data brought in by the field agents, technicians who kept the equipment running smoothly, and higher ups whose job it was to inform the leading politicians and members of the appropriate field and advise them further on their course of action, also to enforce that there were no leaks to the public.

It was at times like this that Wright had wished that he and his team were not all field agents. Even though there currently wasn't much work in their preferred field for them to do, considering the vast amount of resources that would have to be accumulated before any possible successful espionage action against Maleficent could be enacted, they were unfortunately still kept busy by high-profile murder cases (something dreadfully unfortunate considering that they had just gotten their world back and were still rebuilding from their losses), and the dirty work that the regular police did not wish to do, including making sure that some fiends did not stray too close to the city or to the men hard at work building roads to stretch towards the two new cities being developed by Lord Ovan Ramius.

"We have our orders," Wright said, picking up his sunglasses and putting them over his eyes so that his team could not see them. His voice was calm and steady, but his heart was in turmoil. "Jackson."

"Sir," the man acknowledged. Robert Jackson was thirty-two, married with two young children and another on the way, and had served alongside Wright for the better part of the last seven years before their world was gone and there was still work to be done. He was Wright's number one man, and had proved it repeatedly. Jackson was the first that Wright would go to, and twenty-nine and twenty-three year olds Ritter and Quin (as well as several other agents) respected his experience and looked up to him, would even follow him if he asked.

"You're going to meet the Princess," Wright said. He spent the next ten minutes explaining their situation and orders, and by the time he was done, all three of the agents in front of him were gulping and shifting uncomfortably. None of them found themselves particularly fond of their orders, but they knew that they had to be carried out. Wright dismissed them, but held Jackson back.

"What is it Brad?" Jackson asked. Wright motioned for him to come closer and slipped his sunglasses down onto his nose so that he could see over their rims.

"When we're done with this, I want you to find that man who leaked," Wright said. Jackson found himself leaning closer to his superior, Wright's voice hushed so that he could barely hear the whispered orders. "AMRGP had to have found out about this somehow, and they've managed to get this thrust onto us. I want to know how they knew, and I want to know who they are."

"They could be a group of pretty powerful people Brad," Jackson proposed. Wright shook his head.

"I don't care," he said. "I don't want that damned group to do what they want. Who knows how much influence they have? I don't know how much protection the keyblades and a foreign crown can give against an enemy that they can't see." Jackson nodded his head and was dismissed.

Wright sighed and shook his head, running a hand over his face. If you can see it, you can shoot it. He didn't care how long it might take Jackson to get the job done. He wanted to see them before they could fire first.

-A-D-

"So Sora's getting the arm tomorrow?" Asterix asked.

Tidus nodded. "Yes, at ten in the morning. Pinako says it's going to be extremely painful." Everyone assembled at the table winced to some degree, except for Obelix, who was busy eating a roast boar. How the castle's kitchen staff had been able to stock boar was beyond anyone's guess, but they had managed to do it. The long table in the dining room on the castle's second floor was packed with everyone possible: The Islanders, Twilight Towners, Disney Castle inhabitants, Chinese, Gauls, Spirans and Amestrans, and assorted hangers-on (Axel). The only ones who were not present were those people from Radiant Garden (Yuffie being the only exception), Sora, and Kairi.

Pinako was still smoking her pipe as she was sitting down to eat. "I have said it before. It will be painful, but it is necessary. The pain will subside after a few hours however."

"And then Sora will be right as rain when we take him to the Pride Lands, ahyuk," said Goofy. "Simba's a good feller, right Donald?" Donald was currently eyeing Mushu, who was stuffing his face on a bowl of fried rice, bits of poultry missing the dragon's mouth.

"Why I oughta..." Donald mumbled to himself.

"Uh, right Donald?" Goofy asked again, slightly puzzled as to why his friend wasn't answering him. Hearing his name a second time caused Donald to look away from Mushu and at Goofy.

"Wak!" he said, confused. "Uh, what was that Goofy?"

"I was just telling the guys that Simba's a good feller, isn't he Donald?" Donald nodded his head vigorously.

"Oh yeah," he said encouragingly. "Simba's a great lion and can definitely help Sora."

"You really think so?" Goofy asked, hiding his question behind his gloved hand.

"I have no idea," Donald said. "You know how stubborn Sora is, but we have to hope that he can help him."

"Hm," Goofy pondered. "Good idea." He removed his hand and looked around again.

"Naminé what work were you doing over the past two days?" Roxas asked suddenly in a change of topic, his tone showing that he wasn't particularly happy that she had been keeping him from seeing her; not angry, just confused and a little sad.

Naminé leaned back into her seat at the head of the table in surprise. She had not expected Roxas to ask her that question, and was even less prepared to answer. "Oh, uh... I've been- well what I've been doing was... er-"

She could see Roxas' head droop slightly and his eyes lose their lustre and contact with her and Naminé decided to come clean out of guilt. "I was contacting the other princesses of heart and arranging transport for them to come here," she explained.

"What?" King Mickey asked from his seat at her left hand. "Why would you do that Naminé? That could endanger the world order."

Axel laughed. "No offence King Mick, but take a look around you. I think that the world order can wait until after we take down Maleficent. And even then it will never be the same again."

"Yeah that's right," Riku said, drawling a bit as he snidely looked at Axel, "you and Organization XIII had a big hand in helping the world order go out of whack with forcing myself, Mickey, and Sora, Donald, and Goofy into ridding the worlds of the heartless you guys released."

"The villains will always disturb the order of the worlds," Asterix said calmly with a shrug, watching Obelix move onto his second boar. "We used to have a system before, during the keyblade wars and before they even started, but since the end of that everything has gone to pieces."

"Everyone has been minding their own business is what you mean," Mushu said, looking up from his rice. "Man, I wish that that Shan Yu guy could have minded his own business."

Mulan looked kindly at Mushu and patted his head. "Now Mushu, if Shan Yu hadn't invaded China, and my father hadn't been called to serve in the army, then I would never have gone to take his place and would never have met you. And then we would never have met anyone here, or the Emperor, Chien Po, Yao, Ling, or-" she trembled slightly and cut herself off.

"Don't worry Mulan," Mushu said comfortingly, patting her back. "We'll get him back after we kick Maleficent's bad witch butt. We can't lose, we have the lucky cricket!" Mushu looked expectantly at Cricky, who gave a single, happy chirp. Mulan smiled a little and hugged Mushu.

"So Roxanne," Max asked the girl sitting next to him, "how have you liked Radiant Garden so far?"

"It's really nice," Roxanne said. "Olette and Selphie took me to see some of the gardens they'd found. Even in the fall the flowers are beautiful. But what about you? Have you seen anything better than a Powerline concert?" Max smiled.

"Better? Roxanne, I've been in a concert underneath the seas of Atlantica, swimming as a swordfish, _singing_ onstage in front of a huge crowd of mermaids, mermen, and a bunch of sea creatures."

Roxanne's eyes grew as wide as the plate that her food was on. "Really? How was it?" Max laughed.

"Two words: it was awesome."

"That's three words Max," PJ commented with a slight snigger as Roxanne giggled. Max's face turned a light shade of red. Donald nudged Goofy.

"Look Goofy, Max counts like Phil," he said, trying not to laugh under his breath. Goofy looked up at his son as the boy sat further down the table.

"Now Maxie, I know that you can count properly," the Goof said.

"Aw Dad," Max moaned, pulling out his puppy-dog eyes even as his face reddened further from embarrassment. "Do you have to call me that when my friends are here?"

"I don't know Max," Kia said flirtatiously. "I think it sounds cute." Max looked at Kia in confusion and shared a glance with PJ, almost as if communicating a message of 'what was up with that?' telepathically.

Roxanne's eyes fixed Kia with a death-glare even as the rest of her body was relaxed entirely. Kia smiled, getting the message before Roxanne's eyes relaxed and she looked at Max again.

"I was thinking that you could show me around the marketplace a bit more tomorrow," she said after a moment's pause. "Maybe a mall if there is one." Max looked inquisitively at her.

"Why?" he asked.

"I've noticed that the headband I gave you looks like it's been through some wear," Roxanne said. "I want to get you a new one." Max fingered the red band he had tied to his head when he had arrived in Radiant Garden with Sora and Kairi the first time. It had indeed seen some wear and tear through his actions on the battlefield. A rip here, a stain there, a couple of wooden splinters, and a burn mark all along one side when he had been too close to the heartless being fried to a crisp in Gaul from Yuffie's shuriken and lightning combo attack.

"Well, ah," Max stuttered, pulling on the collar of his shirt with his other finger. "I was kinda planning on sticking around the hospital tomorrow to see how Sora and Kairi are doing. I did adventure with them for a bit."

"Oh," Roxanne said, her eyes dropping. "Well, if you already have plans..." Max looked behind Roxanne's back at PJ, his eyes pleading for him to understand that he would also really like to spend the day with Roxanne. PJ rolled his eyes slightly and drew a long breath.

"Well," said PJ, drawing out the word as long as he could. "I guess that we could explain the situation to them tomorrow if you really want to go Roxanne."

"Really?" Roxanne asked, perking up and swivelling her head between Max and PJ. "They won't mind you not being there?"

Max shook his head slightly. "They won't mind. Not after we tell them why, that is." Roxanne smiled and quickly, very quickly, pecked Max on the cheek with a kiss. Max's face went through fifteen shades of red before he was leaning back in his chair, passed out. Roxanne blushed horribly.

"Is he okay?" she asked. Anyone who had been listening in on their conversation and had been refraining from laughing could no longer hold it back.

"Cleanup in seat seven," Jeffery sniggered. "Max is drooling in his sleep." On hearing his name Max suddenly woke up.

"And welcome back to the world of the living sir," Isil said, handing him a napkin. "Unfortunately, we do not have a bowl of complimentary mints to give you."

"Huh?" Max asked, taking the napkin with confusion. He then felt the slobber on the side of his mouth and quickly placed the napkin to it. Roxanne giggled next to him, but her face was still flushed.

"Hey Max," Donald teased, "how come your face is all red?"

"What?" Max asked the duck in indignation. "It is not red!" But of course it was a lie through his teeth, as his face went as red as a tomato.

"Stop harassing him Donald," Yuffie said, waving her fork threateningly at him. "He deserves a bit of a break."

"Since when did you believe in giving lovebirds a break?" Riku asked, arching his eyebrow and looking at Yuffie. She smiled.

"Since I became one," she replied, giving him a kiss. She pulled back in disgust and laughter. "Rik! There's food in your mouth!"

"I'm eating Yuf!" Riku reasoned loudly. "I'm not prepared to kiss my girlfriend on a whim while I'm eating."

"You're eating like Obelix," Yuffie whined, looking at the mess on his plate. Mostly all of his meat (pork with a thick white mushroom sauce overtop) was gone, and he'd barely touched his rice or vegetables.

"I like meat," he reasoned. "Who doesn't like meat?"

"Oh I know!" Rikku supplied from a ways down the table, hearing his question. "Vegans!"

"What about vegans?" Paine asked from next to Rikku.

"They don't like meat!" Rikku said.

"Obvious," Fuu said from across the table. Rikku stuck her tongue out at her.

"Don't be sticking your tongue out as us y'know," Rai said. "Or Seifer will take care of you."

Yuna's pistols and Rikku's daggers were out faster than the blink of an eye. "Bring it!" Yuna challenged as Paine's sword was very quick to follow the other weapons, held behind her head and pointing across the table. "The Gullwings are ready!" Rai and Fuu backed down, and even Seifer was unnerved at their preparedness. It seemed as if the Gullwings would always be able to fight at literally a moment's notice.

"Yuna put the guns down," Tidus said. "We're all friends here. Friends don't kill friends."

"Lighten up a little," Olette said, her voice a little sterner than she would have liked. "We don't need anybody else getting hurt around here right now." Anyone could tell just by looking at her that she was upset somewhat. She glanced down the table at Charlie and Mulan. Both of them had been hurt fighting the soldiers, but each of them had only suffered glancing bullet wounds on the arm. Hayner was the only one who was truly wounded in the battle.

The collective mood around the table became very sombre. Sora, Kairi, and Hayner were still in hospital. The two keyblade wielders (they weren't listening to Sora's complaints anymore) had high fevers, which they had learned had gotten worse during the day and finally broke about an hour before they sat down to eat. Sora was missing an arm (soon to be painfully replaced), and Hayner had been hit by three ricochets in the legs, all healing. And Charlie and Mulan were walking wounded, the hits they took not warranting anything more than a simple cure spell.

They wondered just how worse it might become when Maleficent began to mean business.

-A-D-

The next day dawned cloudy, which about matched Sora's mood. His fever had died down to nearly nothing at all, but he was grumbling about not being allowed to eat supper the previous night or breakfast. The smell of Kairi's toast, eggs, and bacon (compliments of Dr. Fraiser and not Nurse Ratchet) were making his mouth water and his eyes stare daggers at the food on her plate. Her ankle had healed, and she was also feeling much better without the fever.

"Here you go Aiwemon," Kairi said, giving Sora's partner digimon a piece of bacon (a healthy amount of juicy fat on the slice). "I know that you'll enjoy this." Kairi looked over at Sora and shrugged playfully, her eyes saying 'your loss,' to him.

"_Kairi_," Sora moaned, watching painfully as Aiwemon's tongue washed over his yellow beak to lick up the last of the bacon's grease. "Can you not do that in front of me please?" He looked away from Aiwemon. It reminded him too much of himself when Anne used to cook him bacon for breakfast on Saturday mornings. He still couldn't believe that she was really gone.

"Well I'm sorry Sora, but I can't exactly leave the room to eat breakfast," Kairi said exasperatedly as Menelmon munched on a slice of her toast. "And it's not my fault that you decided to get the automail."

"Actually it is," Sora replied. "You're the one who said, 'he'll take it'."

"You don't want it?" Kairi asked, blinking. "Then why did you ask how soon you could have it?"

"I-" Sora said, his voice rising as he fumbled around for words. "I don't know what I want anymore Kairi!"

"Well what do you want?" Kairi asked, lifting her voice slightly as well. Menelmon lifted her head worryingly, watching the rising tensions with anxiety. Aiwemon took advantage to gobble up more bacon and a bit of scrambled eggs.

"I- I don't know!" Sora said in frustration. "I want to hold you, I want to protect you! I want to help but I can't!"

"I want you to protect me Sora but I don't need you to anymore," Kairi answered. "I have myself and Menelmon for that. Let me depend on me for once!"

"Well you're going to have to because I can't summon the keyblade anymore," Sora mumbled angrily. "I'm worried okay!"

"You worry too much," Kairi said. "Let King Mickey worry. And don't even start about not being able to summon the keyblade anymore. You're the chosen master of the keyblade."

"I'm not that guy anymore Kairi," Sora said angrily. Kairi winced.

"Then who are you?" Kairi asked. Sora stopped at the simplicity of her question and Kairi still stared at him while she sipped from a cup of juice.

"Who are you Sora?" Kairi asked again. "If you are going to deny who you are to yourself, who are you?"

"I'm," Sora began uncertainly. "I'm..._me_! Aren't I?" Kairi scoffed slightly.

"You certainly aren't acting like you," muttered Kairi before taking a bite of the last piece of toast.

Sora was confused. He was Sora, wasn't he? Wasn't he himself? Why would he be anyone else? But maybe that was what Kairi was getting at. He wasn't the keyblade master anymore, so who was he? Being the chosen master of the keyblade had been such a large part of his life for the past two years. Without it, just who was he?

"What do you mean Kairi?" he asked slowly.

Kairi did not elicit an answer to him, just another swig from her juice glass.

Sora was quiet over the next few hours, trying to contemplate what Kairi was meaning by her cryptic words. He had been acting normally hadn't he? He pinched himself, yep he felt pain, he was still real. So what did Kairi mean that he wasn't himself?

Winry walked into the room and told Sora that it was time. He sighed slightly, looked at Kairi, and got up. Kairi and the digimon followed him out of the room.

Pinako was waiting outside along with a conglomerate of their friends and Dr. Fraiser and Nurse Ratchet. Pinako, Winry, and the good doctor led him off to surgery, Nurse Ratchet scowling at the band that followed all the way to the waiting room outside of that section of the hospital. They were disturbing the order of her ward. Ed pulled Sora aside moments before he was about to go through the doors of a surgical room _very_ close to the waiting room.

"I'm just going to warn you," Ed said, "it's painful as hell and Winry didn't even care to be gentle to me."

"It can't be that bad," Sora said, giving Edward a quick smile despite the serious look on the alchemist's face. Sora went through the swinging doors and Ed stared at where he had gone.

"Famous last words," he said aloud, taking the twelve steps he needed to get back to the waiting room, consciously feeling the metal against his hip and shoulder.

The muffled sound of Sora's agonized cries started drifting from the room not ten minutes later. Kairi's eyes widened in horror and she started feeling sick again. She could feel that he was in extreme pain. Her heart throbbed in her throat when she glanced at Roxas and Aiwemon. Roxas was gasping and wheezing, clutching at the top of his left arm. Roxas was already sweating, and it looked as if he wasn't just feeling that Sora was in pain, as Kairi did, but that he was actually feeling some of the pain. Aiwemon was shivering horribly, a painful memory for him, Menelmon, and Kairi all resurfacing as Sora's screams continued.

"I hope you're happy bro," Roxas muttered through a pained gasp for air, both Kairi and Naminé now holding onto him and rubbing his back.

"Why?" Naminé asked, a tear in her eye as Roxas gave an aggrieved grunt.

"I'm taking some of Sora's pain away," Roxas said, "placing it onto myself." Roxas looked up suddenly. "Stop?" he asked aloud. After a few seconds his grunting and sweating eased, but it was accompanied by a heart-breaking roar of suffering from Sora within surgery.

"I can't take this anymore," Kairi sobbed, standing up and walking away. "Tell me when they're done." Before anyone could say anything to her, Kairi bolted back down the halls to find the room she and Sora had shared again. Kairi met Hayner along the way, and he quickly made his way over to surgery on his hospital crutches.

Kairi reached the room and quickly plopped down onto her bed. She felt that it was all her fault that Sora was going through this pain. If she hadn't have destroyed his arm by accident, if Maleficent hadn't been attacking her and Sora hadn't have rushed to get in the way...

_No,_ Kairi thought, shaking her head angrily. She was upset but she couldn't allow herself to place the blame on themselves any more. She had to accept that there were things that they simply could not control, Maleficent among them. It was nobody's fault but Maleficent's that Sora was going through this pain, but he still needed to find the will within himself to fight her again.

Over the past day while her fever had ravaged her even after the esuna spell and the medicine that was given to her, both Sora and Kairi had found themselves not wishing to talk to each other, or their digimon, each wrapped in their own misery. Kairi had come up with the idea of asking him who he was during that time while she was trying to fall asleep to forget her own pain for at least a little while.

Sora had already proven that he still wants to help, given his actions to save her the other night, but he no longer had any idea how anymore now that he found himself unable to call the keyblade to his hand. Kairi figured like the others that Sora had simply forgotten something deep inside himself, that he had forgotten just who he was. If she was able to get Sora thinking (a dangerous circumstance), he might just remember who he was inside.

But it would be hard. Sora was still working around never seeing his mother again. Until he could clear that roadblock, Kairi wasn't sure if it would work.

Another two hours passed before anyone entered the room after Kairi. By that time she had fallen asleep. She felt herself being shaken awake and blearily opened her eyes to see Naminé kneeling down just in front of her head, a concerned expression on her face.

"They're done," she said quietly, her head turning to look at something. Kairi leaned up in her bed and followed Naminé's gaze.

Sora was lying unconscious on his bed, a metallic shine coming from his left side. Kairi got up and slowly ambled over to him, her eyes unable to move away from the metal arm he had attached to his body. The arm looked...

She wasn't exactly sure how to put it. The arm looked almost exactly like a human's arm, wrist, and hand, except entirely out of metal. If it wasn't exposed to the world for everyone to see, Kairi wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. Kairi forced her eyes away from the arm and towards Sora's face. She smiled slightly. He looked almost peaceful.

Kairi felt the eyes of at least a dozen people on her as she knelt onto the bed next to him, not caring that they were both still in the drab hospital gowns. Her hand seemed to have a mind of its own and it gently stroked his face, her hand caressing the skin underneath his bangs.

She was unaware of just how long she had been sitting like that, but the next thing she knew Sora was moaning slightly while his eyelids began to flutter. Aiwemon and Menelmon had come to sit next to her at some point, and Riku's hands were on her shoulders while Naminé and Roxas both stood slightly behind and to her right. King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were on the other end of the bed in the back behind Sal, Sade, Sikora, and Victoria. The whole group created a semi-circle around Sora's bed. Winry, Pinako, Ed, Al, Den, and Armstrong were standing closer to the door, watching Sora carefully.

Sora shifted slightly and Kairi's hand came back to sit near her left knee. He moaned faintly.

"Please don't stop Iri," he said quietly, his face cracking into a smile even while his eyes remained closed. Kairi stifled the giggle she was about to let out and continued moments before Sora opened his eyes.

"Afternoon Sora," she said. "How do you feel?"

Sora grimaced. "It only hurts a little now, but boy was I off for how much I thought it was going to hurt."

"Told you so," Ed said, shaking his head by the doorway.

"Think you're going to be alright Sora?" Riku asked. Sora nodded.

"Yeah, I think I'll live," Sora said, managing a weak chuckle.

"Alright that's enough," Winry said, clearing a path through. "Make way, we have to make sure that his automail's working properly, otherwise we'll have to do the whole thing all over again."

Sora visibly paled while Ed sniggered in the background. "What Winry? You don't think that you did it right?" Winry pulled out her trusty spanner and shook it over her head threateningly without looking at Ed.

"Don't make me hit you with this Edward," she growled. Ed stopped teasing her while Winry and Pinako set down to work, putting Sora and his arm through a number of small tests. They had him clench each of his fingers, and then together as a whole fist, bend the wrist and arm at the joints in all manner humanly possible, and hold Kairi's hand.

"Wow," Sora said when he took the hand of his girlfriend. Kairi was only slightly uncomfortable. The metal was cool in her hand, but it still felt somewhat right. She looked at Sora inquisitively and he answered her unspoken question.

"I can feel your hand Kairi," Sora said, smiling. "Your hand is warm, I can _feel_ holding onto you." Kairi smiled too after a slight second's pondering as to what he meant, and kissed him.

"Well that takes care of that," Winry said, smacking her gloves together. "You're all good to go Sora. Just remember to come in for regular maintenance and repair. By the way, who's paying for this?"

Sora was about to answer when King Mickey interrupted him. "I will," The King said. "And I'll even give you a bonus for having it done so quickly and so expertly." Winry bowed while her aunt smiled by the door.

"That's my niece," Pinako mumbled.

Sora's stomach gave a particularly loud growl and he looked down at it with a frown.

"Does this mean that I can eat now?" he asked aloud.

The entire room was filled with their laughter while Major Armstrong left to find the nurse.

-A-D-

_Sorry about it being late, but I was golfing and bowling._

_Sorry again guys, but I wouldn't expect an update next Sunday. I already know that I won't have much writing time this week, and the next chapter is going to be a lengthy one. Darth, the stuff I told you about is what I'm talking about._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	16. To Africa

_I've waited for a few months to do this, but it can't compare to how long I've been waiting for something else that I still have yet to do. Chapter turned out to be about the same length as normal, but I still find it good._

_Disclaimer: (Takes the sign that says 'Disclaimer' that already has a bullet hole in it, puts it up on a stake and shoves it into the ground. Walks twelve paces away from it and blasts it with a flamethrower stolen from an old Sherman tank that had been equipped with one from the Pacific Theater in the Second World War). I'm tired of this thing. I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square-Enix, WWII weaponry, songs, animes, books, or OCs that are not mine. Tom Marcinek is one of those. Robert Jackson and Philip Kensworth however, are two of those lucky ones that I _do_ own._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter XVI: To Africa

Sora ate ravenously. His stomach's lack of food over the past half day sent a flurry of impulses to his brain, screaming at him to eat and keep eating as soon as the first morsel touched his tongue. Sora barely gave pause to reflect on how cruel it was that he had just started getting used to eating with a single arm and hand (albeit all he had eaten was soup with the occasional treat of a cracker), when now he was going full tilt with a new left arm that emitted a low, but still audible, _click-clack_ with every move of the metallic joints.

Aiwemon gorged himself out next to Sora, his sharp, pointed beak biting and tearing into the flesh of the burger that sat upon his plate. Bits of meat clung stubbornly to the white feathers on his head and small parts of bun rested on his brown-feathered shoulders. His salad was so far untouched.

It was a strange sight for Helia and Kensworth as they watched the keyblade master shovel his bowl of ramen into his mouth with unknown abandon, the clacks of the chopsticks themselves complimenting the sounds of the automail. And, they had never seen a bird eating a hamburger before, much less one that held it up to its beak with its wings.

"Slow down Sora," Kairi giggled slightly. "You'll hurt yourself." Sora barely looked up at her, but when he did, he gave a great, strained swallow, and laughed. Kairi was eating almost as quickly as he was, hungry for anything but more hospital food. Despite the type of food she'd eaten for breakfast all within smelling distance of Sora, it hadn't been all that good.

"You should all slow down," Riku advised, watching his two best friends and Aiwemon with nothing short of amusement while he dined at the table with them. Menelmon was also eating to Kairi's left, but she was more reserved than either digidestined or the male bird digimon.

"Especially you Kairi," Naminé reminded her, sitting on Kairi's right as the red-headed princess sat at the head of the table. "You remember what Dr. Fraiser said don't you?"

"I don't care what Dr. Fraiser said," Kairi said sternly after swallowing a bite. "I'm eating, and I'll worry about that later."

"I don't know Kairi," said Selphie, looking at the princess critically. "She may have a point."

"Are you saying I'm fat!?" Kairi snapped at her best female friend. Before Selphie could answer, Kairi whipped her head towards Sora. "You don't think I'm fat do you Sora?"

Sora shoveled a bit more ramen into his mouth with his chopsticks and then held a finger up while he gulped and drank some water. The table was deathly quiet as he stalled so as not to spray half-chewed noodles all over everyone. The question had almost made Sora laugh, but inside he felt a great twinge of pain. In a topic like this, no matter what he said he knew that Kairi would take anything he said with two grains of salt instead of the proverbial one.

"You're gorgeous Kai," he announced, beaming at her with admiration.

_Bah_, Roxas spoke into his mind from his place directly across the table from his twin. _If you think for even one second that that will save you, then-_

Roxas broke off as Kairi smiled at Sora and blew him a kiss, saying, "That's sweet Sora. I knew you didn't think I was porky."

Sora and Roxas both hided their confusion physically, but they simultaneously looked to each other, their attention differing between each other and Riku, Tidus, Wakka, Anar, Isil, Jeffery, their uncle Sal, Sade, Max, PJ, Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey.

As one, all the males present immediately thought, _what?_

The small group of Destiny Islands inhabitants and patrons of Disney Castle were once more dining together in the dining room of Radiant Garden's castle, except this time Sora and Kairi were present. Within three minutes of Winry and Pinako's declaration that Sora's automail was functioning perfectly, Dr. Fraiser had arrived with the messenger they had sent (Major Armstrong), and Nurse Ratchet, who was horrified at the sight of Sora's arm.

Not truly surprisingly, no one minded the fact that she thought it was hideous.

Fraiser then proceeded to give both Sora and Kairi quick physical examinations, and when finished declared that they were both in normal physical health. She did profess though that Kairi was slightly overweight for her age and size, whereas Sora was a little underweight, despite the near month of adventuring they had had. When asked if they exercised regularly, both claimed that they did, however upon later reflection everyone came to the conclusion that only a few battles and training days spaced out in that month didn't really count as 'regular'.

So now Sora and Kairi were free of being stuck in hospital, Kairi garbed in her pink dress and white halter-top while Sora was in a black t-shirt and pair of black jeans, his jacket hanging over the back of his chair so as to reveal almost the full extent of his arm.

Clearly Naminé and Selphie and not Kairi, Kia, Sikora, Victoria, or Roxanne believed that if Kairi was over one pound overweight, she was unhealthy. Any discussion upon the topic of Kairi's weight was still an uncomfortable subject for the young princess though, and while she would rather not be overweight by eleven pounds, she just had to accept that she was overweight and should try to rectify the situation.

Sora was the opposite. He didn't care that he was underweight and she was overweight. He knew that those two factors would balance each other out as they exercised and trained for battle. He figured that whatever training he would be forced to go along with as the King desperately tried to get him to summon the keyblade again might either put more muscle on him, or make him lose more weight.

However, he had been uncomfortable during the physical examinations that Dr. Fraiser was administering. Whereas Kairi was perfectly fine, having had a woman as a family doctor for as long as she could remember while on the Islands, Sora's family doctor out of the same clinic had been male and the sudden switch to having a female checking his… well, he was not at ease during the examinations. Both of them however, blushed pink while still vehemently answering no when Dr. Fraiser asked them in turn if they were sexually active. He made a note not to tell anyone, least of all Roxas about his unease. If he could confide in anyone, it would be Riku, because he knew that his best friend at least would not tease him as much as his now twin brother would.

Still confused though about Kairi's behaviour towards him saying that she looked gorgeous rather than fat, Sora glanced up at Kairi and shrugged before continuing onto finishing his rather enjoyable lunch. It was the best bowl of ramen he'd ever had before in his life, and that was saying something considering the skill his mother had had and his pride in his own culinary talents.

On a deeper level, it disturbed Sora that Kairi was even the slightest bit concerned about her weight. She shouldn't need to worry about such things as body weight or appearance. He didn't deny to himself that it would be pleasing to see Kairi primped up in a bit of makeup or doing something marvelous with her hair or wearing a stunning dress that would make his jaw go slack and he would subconsciously drool while at the same time would always make him feel severely underdressed (like he had felt in Prince Alain's Castle before Nixion and Pete attacked). But he reasoned that no matter what pleasure it gave him to see Kairi (or even daydream about Kairi) in such garb, she needn't worry about her weight unless she was _severely_ over or underweight. A few pounds here and there didn't matter too much to him. They didn't show on her in the slightest.

And as he looked at Kairi again, he noticed that her stomach had agreed with his philosophy. She was thoroughly enjoying the meaty burger that was clamped in her hands, a slight dribble of ketchup and grease running down the side of her smiling lips. Those lips, so soft and warm. Oh, how he longed to be able to press his against hers for hours on end.

Sora shook his head to clear it of such thoughts. He knew he wouldn't be able to entertain them, for he would be leaving within two hours aboard a Gummi ship with Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey. Where they were taking him, he had no idea.

However…

Sora looked up at Kairi again, a slight amount of his ramen spilling out past his lips. He was positive that Kairi would not mind giving him a long good-luck farewell. He watched her wipe the ketchup and grease away with a finger and lick it off even as he slurped the hanging noodles into his mouth and swallowed them.

Food agreed with both of them.

Aiwemon took a large bite out of his burger, his face and mostly closed eyes welling up in happiness. Sora laughed at the look on his partner digimon's face, for the burger itself was roughly half the size of the small digimon, and that was nearly half gone already.

"Are you sure that you're going to finish that Aiwemon?" Roxas asked, his eyes flickering down to his mostly empty bowl of delicious ramen. Aiwemon's eyes flashed open and his beak snapped at Roxas, the burger moving further away from the male digidestined's twin brother.

"Okay, it's yours," Sora said, rolling his eyes while Roxas flinched. Another large chunk vanished into Aiwemon's beak and seemingly bottomless stomach.

"Digimon sure love their food yah?" Wakka said, smiling down the table.

"You'd better believe it," Kairi said, wiping her lips on a napkin. "You haven't met the most fanatical of the food worshiping digimon yet."

"Which one is that?" Yuffie asked.

"Gomamon," Sora snorted. "He dreams about food."

Riku raised an eyebrow and said, "That sounds a little extreme."

"Not extreme Riku," Tidus said, "Devoted."

"Why are we talking about food?" Selphie asked.

"Because food tastes good Selph," said Isil.

"Then why don't we talk about something else that tastes good?" Selphie said quickly, gaining a devilish grin. "Hey Kairi…"

"Yes Selphie?" Kairi asked uncertainly, holding the remains of her burger in the air in front of her.

"How do Sora's lips and tongue taste?" Selphie asked.

Sora's chopsticks dropped into his bowl, a low ring emanating as they rolled around the edge of the jade. He felt his face become filled with hot blood as he heard Kairi's burger drop from limp fingers. Slowly, every second an hour, he turned to look at Kairi, and found her eyes lingering on her best friend in shock while her face burned a cherry red that reminded him of the fever that they'd escaped yesterday.

His attention to her after a few seconds managed to gain hold of Kairi's eyes, and just as slowly as he had turned his head, Kairi shifted to look at him. Sora could feel the eyes of everyone at the table boring holes into either him, trying desperately to reach his brain and discover what it was he was thinking, or Kairi, vainly attempting to decipher her answer.

"Don't answer that Kairi," Kensworth said, standing next to her place.

Kairi blinked, and closed her eyes, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards as her face still directed itself at Sora.

"Why do you ask Selphie?" she asked. "Are you doing research or something in case you want to try Tidus?"

Selphie's face immediately turned such a vibrant crimson that a male cardinal would be angered and puff in indignation at being outdone by the girl's fierce blush. Sora smiled as a good portion of the hot blood receded back to where it belonged and quickly turned to look at Tidus, whose face was one to match Selphie's.

"Kairi!" Selphie cried in shock, trying to cover up her face as her idea quickly backfired on her.

"Where in the name of Yevon would you get that idea?" Tidus asked quickly, perhaps too quickly and too loudly.

"I like that Kairi," Anar laughed. "You took her little plan and turned it on its head."

"But if you'd still like an answer to your question," Yuffie slyly said, glancing at Sora. Without warning she vanished in a puff of black smoke and reappeared directly in front of Sora, her lips pressing against his.

Sora quickly found his eyes going wide with shock and his arms flew out to the sides, making dead sure that he did not touch so much as a hair on Yuffie's head as she kissed him. He felt her tongue invading his mouth and lather about, but he did not kiss her back, forcing his mind to remain fixated on the fact that it was Yuffie doing this and not Kairi.

He didn't force himself to overlook the fact that she had talent and was well practiced in the art of kissing however.

When she was done, Yuffie used her ninjitsu to vanish and reappear behind her chair in her customary clouds of black smoke. Sora immediately looked at Kairi and said, "I did not expect that, I did not want that, I am not cheating on you, please don't kill me!"

The table simply erupted into laughter as Yuffie held a finger to her lips, pondering.

"In response to your question Selph," she said at length. "I detected the flavours of salt and pepper, thyme, oregano, Tabasco, cumin, celery, bell pepper, onion, a bit of chili pepper, a sprinkling of parsley and a dash of mint from his breath, and heavy amounts of garlic."

"Ah," Sora said aloud, looking at the scattered remains of the ramen. "So that's why it's so good."

"Nobody should go near Sora for a while then," Donald said as Sora began wolfing down the noodles once more.

"Unless you want to smell like garlic," Goofy added with a slight laugh. Yuffie laughed herself and sat down in her chair, bouncing on the balls of her feet while Sora crossly announced that he would brush his teeth.

"It can't compare to the taste of Riku however," she added, giving him a chaste kiss on his lips to remove the frown he was giving her. Riku's frown left him quickly. "Does that help you out Selphie?"

Selphie nodded but gave Tidus a furtive glance while still looking down at the burger on her plate. Sora noticed the glance while his chopsticks continued to scoop the noodles into his waiting mouth, and recognized that neither Tidus nor Selphie openly denied Kairi's comment.

From his current position of being in love, and rightly knowing it having gone through the painful process of admitting it to himself, he could tell that the relationship between two of his friends that he'd known throughout his life had something a little more than just the love between friends, or that, at the very least, each of them wanted to be more than just friends and were both as blind as he and Kairi had been to the other's feelings.

Sora glanced at Roxas and silently consulted with him, and Roxas came to the same conclusion with a slight nod.

"Now I know what you felt Riku," said Sora, looking at his best friend. Riku grunted.

"Tell me about it," he replied. Max looked at them strangely.

"What are you guys talking about?" he asked. Sora quirked an eyebrow and gave Donald and Goofy significant looks.

"_I can see it happening,"_ he began speaking, in an imitation of a certain meerkat.

"_And they don't even have a clue,"_ Donald added, the effect being somewhat lost because of the jabber of his voice.

"_They'll fall in lo-"_ Sora found his voice being muffled as Naminé's palm quickly slapped against his mouth.

"We don't need to tease the other lovebirds around this table any more than we already have Sora," Kairi said. She looked pointedly at Selphie and Tidus, and both of them forcibly averted their eyes from one another after they had met. Sora noticed Max's eyes straying towards Roxanne, and he was also quick to catch an interesting glancing exchange from Anar and Kia, the two missing each other by mere seconds.

He wondered if there were any other pairings of his friends that might spring up.

-A-D-

Hayner was sitting down on his bed in his hospital room, dressed as he had been before he'd been admitted. His doctor, a man by the name of Dr. Elken, was checking his legs to see if they'd healed themselves enough. The only thing that bothered him was that the areas of his legs where he'd been shot felt a bit itchy.

"You seem to be doing quite well," Dr. Elken said, tapping Hayner's knees with his small mallet. "You were on crutches earlier today?"

"Yeah," Hayner answered. "I'm surprised at how quickly it's all healed up. I probably didn't even need to use the crutches at all."

"That's magic for you," Dr. Elken said, straightening up and looking critically at Hayner's legs. "Stand." Hayner complied with the order and did several trivial things that the doctor asked him to do such as hopping up and down and walking around on his toes or heels.

Dr. Elken nodded approvingly and made a mark on a clipboard, saying, "All right, you're good to go kid. I don't want to hear that you got yourself shot again."

Hayner grinned. "Don't worry doc, you won't hear about it." Hayner gave a 'whoop' of excitement and ran from the room.

He barely spared the remainder of the hospital a glance as he ran through the halls, determined only on the exit and freedom. He enjoyed the run immensely, despite the slight itch in three spots on his legs.

"Coming through!" he warned, jumping off the side of a wall in order to avoid a patient in a wheelchair. The patient smiled and shook her head as Hayner raced off down the halls, adrenaline from the excitement pushing him to faster speeds than he would normally have dared running.

He hit the main entrance and waiting room of the hospital in a dead run, and it took him a second after clearing straight through the doors that he'd seen someone he knew and had heard his name. He skidded to a stop and frowned.

_Was that Olette?_

Quickly turning around in the sunshine and breeze, Hayner saw Olette rushing out of the hospital, a large smile on her face.

"So you're better," she said, placing a hand on her hip while her grin caused Hayner's small frown to quickly become an even larger smile.

"One hundred percent," said Hayner, pumping his fist. "I feel so good… I might even go to school." Olette shook her head at his sudden enthusiasm in his education.

"Too bad Hayner," she replied. "We're still in Radiant Garden at the moment. School in Twilight Town is out of the picture." Hayner snapped his fingers in disappointment.

"Aw shucks," he said. "Guess we'll have to spend the day wasting away then eh?"

"We could always go shopping," Olette suggested, coming to stand next to Hayner.

Hayner inclined his head derogatorily. "Shopping," he scoffed, starting to walk.

"Yes shopping," Olette said earnestly, staying next to him. "We could get gifts for our parents so that they won't be so angry at us for staying longer than we told them, and so that they won't worry too much about you having been hurt." Hayner noticed that Olette's voice shifted into a softer tone when she mentioned him being hurt.

"Hey," he asked, "something bothering you?" Quickly, Olette looked up at him and shook her head.

"No I-I'm fine Hayner," she said confidently. Hayner nodded and put it out of his mind.

"But you always drag Pence to go shopping with you," he stated. He almost stopped and he blinked. He had said that with a bit of bite in his voice.

_Am I jealous?_ He asked himself. _Why would I be jealous of Pence going shopping with Olette?_

"Well you never want to go shopping with me," Olette pouted, moving aside as another commuter walked into her path. "You're always off doing something else."

Hayner averted his eyes from her. "Sorry Olette," he said. "I didn't know that it was that important to you. It's just shopping to me."

Olette shook her head. "I didn't think you'd understand. For me, it isn't just about the clothes or games or jewelry that I could buy. It's a chance to just hang out with friends while doing stuff."

"Going to the beach is like that," Hayner reminded her. "And so is hanging around Tram Common and eating sea-salt ice cream."

"Yeah but, it gets a bit boring after a while," Olette said. "So shopping kind of breaks that monotony for me, just like you like to Struggle against Seifer. Except for the beach. The beach never gets boring with you around."

"Well," Hayner said slowly, stopping and looking at Olette. She stopped as well and gave him a curious look. There was a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks that had developed when she mentioned that the beach was never boring with him there. If Olette had noticed, she didn't show it. "We could go shopping now, if you want. Maybe get a few things for our folks." Olette smiled.

"Okay," she said. Hayner and Olette started walking again, this time with a destination in mind. They stuck close to each other. Radiant Garden was still somewhat of a strange place to them, and there were many people about who were still on their lunch break that would like nothing more than to get to their own destinations as quickly as possible without interference.

Hayner glanced at Olette as the sun sifted through her brown hair. The way it lit up her cheeks and the skin of her face drew his eyes towards the soft reddish tones imbued within her flesh. The emerald gems that were her eyes glittered, and the orange of her shirt complimented her slender figure so well that Hayner found himself unable to take his eyes off of her.

Not for the first time, he found his mind drifting off as he looked wistfully upon her, but this time something entered his thoughts that hadn't managed to slip into his skull off a slender ray of sunlight.

_Olette is cute,_ he thought suddenly. _No, more than that. She's pretty. Pretty? When did I start thinking that way about Olette?_

He didn't want to admit to himself that he'd been thinking that way about Olette for the past few weeks, ever since he'd found out that Sora and Kairi had hooked up.

Olette glanced at him, and noticed Hayner staring at her. She paused, and Hayner stopped as well, picking up that the shorter girl next to him was blushing. Had she always been shorter than him? He had never noticed how just a few inches made him the taller.

"What? Why are you staring Hayner?" Olette asked uncertainly. "Do I have something on my face?" Her hands fluttered up to her face, checking to see if she had any debris from a meal, or worse, a pimple.

Hayner laughed aloud at Olette's movements, and he was once again pursued by the thought that she was cute.

He opened his mouth before he could stop himself and come to his better senses. "You look cute when you're fussy." Olette stopped and stared at him for a second. Hayner did not realize what just came out of his mouth.

Olette dropped her eyes quickly and began rubbing her arm, her shoes scuffing the stone road. "You think I'm cute?" she asked coyly. She looked up at him, something he hadn't seen before and could not identify in her eyes.

Hayner's eyes widened as he realized what he let slip. He searched his mind quickly, trying to find a loophole, cover story, excuse, anything!

"Yeah, well, uh," he stammered, rubbing the back of his head, his eyes directed towards the upper stories of buildings and the fall-coloured canopies of trees lining the road they were walking beside. "I meant that when you were, you know, checking to see if you had anything on your face, the light made you look cute." He saw Olette sigh, relieving herself of a large lungful of air she'd evidently been holding.

"Yeah," she said quietly, more to herself than to Hayner, "I guess that when I was fussing, the Sun could have made me look kind of cute." Hayner nodded when he saw Olette smile.

"Of course," he said, beginning to walk again.

They couldn't explain away how the air between them had suddenly become very awkward though. And with every step they took, and every small wondering glance at each other, the atmosphere only became more difficult to comprehend or cope with.

Hayner struggled to piece his thoughts and feelings together in his mind while the tension between the two of them continued to thicken. It was beginning to get unbearably quiet, despite the call of a blue jay that was sitting in the tree just to his left and the sounds of the many conversations, footsteps, and the wind that whistled at his back. He glanced at Olette again, mere moments after she had finished glancing at him, and saw her fiddling with a lock of her hair. He couldn't take this anymore; he needed to break the ice that had formed; someone needed to say something!

Olette wasn't saying anything, so he swallowed hard and realized that the duty fell upon him to speak first. He hated this, he had no idea what to say. Why was it that something that should be so easy to say was like trying to shove his fingers through a cheese grater? His heart was racing at an unnatural rate as he found his mouth incredibly dry. It thudded painfully loudly in his ears, deafening him and forcing him to say something merely so that he would have something else to concentrate on.

"Hey Olette," he said, hoping that his sudden call for her attention would strike up a conversation while his tongue tried desperately to become moist, hopefully before he would end up being obliged to continue his train of thought.

He received no such luck as Olette merely looked up at him with a quizzical look on her face, no facial expression indicating that she was even going to verbally acknowledge him. "Would you- would you like-"

"Yes Hayner?" asked Olette with relief, prodding him onwards. He could tell that she was relieved that at least one of them had decided to pluck up the courage to speak, but she still wasn't going to give him an exit. It nearly felt like she wanted him to finish his question, as if she almost knew what he was asking. Deciding it was too late now to go back, he decided to finish his sentence and pray for the best.

"Would you like to go see a movie sometime," Hayner concluded hesitantly, "with me?" Olette stopped in her tracks, and Hayner took one more step forward, not expecting her to halt. He gulped, unsure of whether Olette would say yes. He hoped she would, oh he dearly hoped that she would say yes.

She was silent for several seconds, several seconds that agonized Hayner with their unnatural length. He was sure that the entire universe had stopped in its tracks. Either that or his heart had been pounding so loudly that it burst. Why had the universe seemed to stop? Why was he the only one who seemed to notice? Why-

Why was he suddenly so scared of Olette?

After hours of arduous waiting, time returned to normal as Olette smiled and continued taking her step forward. Hayner stiffened as her left hand slid into his right and she looked slightly up at him.

"I'd like that," she said. "But only if you buy the popcorn. I'll buy the ice cream next time we get some though." Hayner laughed and felt a gentle tug from Olette's hand as she started walking again.

He said, "It's a date then. How's Friday sound?" He felt even more elated in that moment then when he was racing to get out of the hospital and into the fresh air. She had said yes. _YES!_ His heart thumped loudly in euphoria and Hayner felt like crowing like a rooster as soon as he would eventually get away from Olette, no matter who might have heard. He felt invincible. Nothing, not even Seipher could ruin the happiness that flowed throughout his life-blood as her hand melded with his.

-A-D-

Sora couldn't refrain from smiling as he stood in front of the _Highwind_ once more, his hair once more spiked back up to normal with an entire tube of magically extra-long-lasting gel. He had been about to board it with Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey, but another Gummi ship had just landed next to the _Highwind_ on another landing platform. And from that ship he saw the other six princesses of heart descending. Jasmine was walking arm in arm with Aladdin, both of them with apprehensive looks on their faces. Iago was perched on one of Aladdin's shoulders, Abu on the other, and Genie was striding down right behind them on his feet. His joy at being on a new world once more was making him almost spill magic out on a whim. Behind them came Belle and Prince Alain, a tall and very burly and muscled man accompanying them with a short pudgy man to his side. There was a small cleft in the giant's chin, and his face was rather rugged and handsome. Neither Belle nor her prince seemed very perturbed about coming to Radiant Garden, but neither appeared to be very fond of the man behind them. Snow White was next with a very handsome and regal-looking man, who Sora assumed was the prince she was married to. Then Aurora with a very gallant-looking prince strode down towards the ground. One look at them convinced Sora that he would rush to her side without a moment's hesitation. Alice came down the ramp last, a woman in a purple dress who Sora assumed to be her mother or nanny hovering near her, her hands perched protectively on Alice's shoulders.

Genie was, not surprisingly, the first one to notice him. With a mighty shout he vanished from his place in a grand puff of blue and pink smoke and reappeared in front of Sora, as big as a rhinoceros, and squeezed the breath out of the young man.

"Sora! It's so good to see you!" Genie said lovably, bringing Sora even tighter into the hug that reminded Sora very much of the last time he had arrived in Agrabah. This time however, Genie let Sora drop onto the ground in a heap, before instantly teleporting around to a dozen different locations around Sora, picking him up, setting him on his feet, wiping the dust off of his brown leather jacket with the crossed Oathkeeper and Oblivion over a flame, plucking a long hair that Sora had never noticed growing in between his lips and nose (the area stung horribly after Genie plucked the hair), and taking a quick picture of him with a camera that appeared out of nowhere.

"Oh, this one's going into the scrapbook," Genie said, looking at it before vanishing and reappearing next to Aladdin, who was hastily moving to say hello to his friend. "Right Al?" Aladdin and Jasmine took a quick peek at the Polaroid, and laughed. Iago gave one guffaw of laughter before winging off of Aladdin's shoulder and flying over to Sora, where Donald and Goofy and Riku were helping him to stand upright.

"It doesn't flatter you kid," said Iago as he flew, his direction aiming his course to be Sora's right shoulder.

"Oh! Let me see!" demanded Kairi, racing over to look at it with Sikora in tow.

They didn't realize that there was another bird in the vicinity that would not have Iago landing on Sora's right shoulder.

Quick as a hawk (which he was), Aiwemon flew from his position in a tree adjacent to the many circular landing pads on an intercept course for the red parrot. Iago's eyes shifted suddenly to the white-headed and brown-feathered bird digimon as the monster sped towards him. Squawking, Iago halted in the air and began beating his wings wildly, searching desperately for an escape avenue from Aiwemon's sharp talons. Sora watched Iago in confusion, unable to comprehend just what was upsetting the small parrot until he felt the light presence of the slightly larger bird on his shoulder.

"What were you doing Aiwë?" Sora asked, looking at his partner digimon.

"Nothing," the rookie replied, "Just protecting my territory."

"You mean Sora's shoulder?" Menelmon asked, swooping past him and towards Kairi. She passed Iago as the parrot landed on the ground. "He's not going to eat you."

"You coulda warned me pal!" Iago huffed from his position. He looked up at Sora, or rather, at the bird on Sora's shoulder. "How am I supposed to know that you weren't going to eat me? I come here and I see that bald eagle hawk thing coming at me, and what am I supposed to do?"

Aladdin laughed before Sora could, spearheading the group that was finally beginning to amass around him. "How's it been Sora?"

Sora opened his mouth and was about to answer with 'pretty good' when he closed it again, his eyes losing some of their focus. "I'm not really sure," he settled on, giving a feeble laugh of his own as he paused to reflect on the events of the past few days and weeks.

"Not sure?" Prince Alain asked with a smile. "When has our Sora ever been not sure?"

"Since I got the stuffing beaten out of me," he answered meekly, not wanting to meet the eyes of Aladdin or Prince Alain, or any of the other princes and men that had followed them over to where he was standing.

"Buck up young man," the burly man with the cleft in his chin said to Sora. "All you have to do is eat four dozen eggs every day and someday, you might become as strong and beautiful as me."

"That's right Gaston," the short and pudgy man next to the self-proclaimed Adonis said. "You're the greatest there is." The man laughed, his barrel chest giving it a thunder that shook Sora slightly.

"Thank you Lefou," he said, kneeling and clapping a monstrous hand on the pudgy man's shoulder. "Now, maybe you can give me a clue as to who some of those lovely ladies over there are?"

Sora got a good look at Gaston and Lefou while the latter babbled incoherently, having never met any one of them in his life and therefore had no idea who they were. Gaston was big, bigger than any man Sora had ever seen, except for Major Armstrong. The button-up red shirt he wore was barely able to cover his chest, thick black hair peeking out from where it parted near his neck. His black hair was thick and sleek, and in all appearances, he did have a rugged strength that only added to how handsome he was. Lefou on the other hand was short and fat, with a face that made him look somewhat pig-like. His own black hair was greasy, and the brown jacket he wore over his own red shirt was a close fit.

"Which one?" Lefou was finally able to ask.

Gaston pointed. "That beauty of a red-head over there," he said.

"Kairi?" Donald asked, sharing a quick glance with Goofy.

Sora felt the muscles in his neck tighten and his eyes locked onto Gaston's face. His hand (he would have said hands but metal can't sweat) became sweaty underneath the brown gloves he was wearing. The man's eyes couldn't seem to leave Kairi alone. Aiwemon was forced to take flight from Sora's shoulder and landed on the ground next to Iago and Abu.

Aladdin nudged Prince Alain and pointed at Sora. The two had quickly found out that they were the only ones who had fought alongside the keyblade master, Donald, and Goofy of their assorted group, and became fast friends. Prince Alain smiled and nodded slightly. Both of them backed away from Gaston, noticing just how much Sora was shaking with his task of trying to restrain the green-eyed monster within him.

"Kairi," Sora was able to growl, taking a step towards Gaston. "Her name is Princess Kairi Talerith, Princess of Radiant Garden, Wielder of the Keyblade, and one of the eight Princesses of Heart. Naminé, the blonde standing next to her, is her twin sister." He hoped that his declaration of who Kairi was would be enough to steer Gaston clear. The second afterwards however, he felt a small twinge of doubt wring his heart as he realized once more that he was no prince.

"And both of them are already taken," Riku said sternly, placing a hand on Sora's shoulder.

Gaston didn't seem to be dismayed, in fact his eyes gleamed even more. "How old is she?" he asked.

"Gawrsh, well their sixteen," Goofy answered, scratching his head.

"Ah," Gaston continued, his eyes still beaming straight at Sora's auburn-haired princess. "Prime for marriage then. Who did you say she was engaged to?"

Sora felt his knees buckle. This was the second time that someone had believed that he and Kairi were engaged to be married.

"No," Aladdin said quickly. "Kairi's not engaged to anyone." He then gave Sora a queer look. "She isn't, right Sora? I mean, you haven't proposed to her or anything since the last we saw you right?"

"What?" Sora asked in a squeaky voice while his face went through a plethora of reds. "No I haven't asked Kairi to marry me! We aren't ready for marriage! Stop pressuring me! Go away!"

All assembled laughed at Sora's expense except for Gaston, who merely rubbed his chin with his muscled hand. "So she's still on the market then."

Sora snapped. He'd had enough of Gaston ogling his girlfriend. With deliberate slowness, he used his left hand to pull off the glove on his right hand. On Edward Elric's advice, he was wearing his jacket once more and a pair of brown gloves, hiding his arm from the world under a veil of normalcy. It was to avoid the straying, unwanted eyes of those who would find it frightening.

Gaston turned to look at him, watching him with strangeness as Sora moved. Was he going to challenge him to a duel? He'd flatten the poor boy faster than a frog could swallow a fly. But he did have to admit that the boy had courage.

Sora entertained no such fancy. He had another trick up his sleeve, literally. "If you want Kairi," he said, moving his right hand over to take the glove off of his left while rolling his shoulders to loosen his jacket, "you'll have to live with this." All within one second, Sora snapped the glove off of his left hand and pulled the arm out of the sleeve, pointing his metal appendage right in front of Gaston's horrified face.

The automail gleamed like polished silver in the sunlight, reflecting the man's handsome face right back at him as all their eyes turned to Sora in horror. Sora, suddenly feeling extremely uncomfortable, put his gloves back on and slipped his arm back into his jacket, hiding the shiny new automail.

"Kairi has this effect to those she falls in love with," Sora said pointedly, bucking his shoulders so that his jacket rested more firmly on him. "So you may not want to try wooing her, unless you'd willingly lose your beautiful arm to save her life." Gaston looked back at Kairi, and then at his arm, and then towards Sora's concealed mechanical one.

"Hn," Lefou said pointedly. "She's not worth that much."

"Quite right Lefou," Gaston added. Sora smiled and shook his head slightly.

"That's where you're wrong," he whispered to himself, turning towards the ship. He started walking up the ramp when he heard quick footsteps behind him. Turning, Sora saw the very person that he'd just been slyly defending.

Sora wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not, but Kairi's arms flew around his shoulders and she clutched him tightly, pressing her lips against his. Sora wasn't surprised. In all likelihood, they wouldn't be seeing each other for a few days at least. And they certainly had not held back when they strolled through the sunlit garden to the castle's west for an hour.

He didn't stop the kiss though. He wanted the feel of Kairi's warm lips against his own to linger there, able to be called upon in a moment's notice for as long as possible.

After a whole minute, they broke apart, and Kairi smiled as she stepped backwards down the ramp. "Take care and good luck."

"I hope so," Sora replied, stopping her for a second to give her one more kiss on the lips. Kairi giggled slightly as he finished his smooch and stepped off of the _Highwind_'s landing ramp for real.

"We'll be back as soon as Sora's done," King Mickey said. "There's some stuff I'd like to talk to all of yah about." Kairi nodded her head, watching Sora vanish into the ship with words from his aunt, uncle, and cousins following him. King Mickey quickly bounded up into the ship after him and the ramp followed quickly. Within a minute, the _Highwind_'s engines came to life and the ship blasted off into the sky.

Kairi watched until it was nothing more than a tiny prick in the sky before turning away to leave the area in the midst of the other princesses and her friends.

A man she had never seen before greeted her moments after they left the base where the landing pads and hangars for Gummi ships were. He wore a crisp black suit, had thick red hair, and green eyes that struck her as remarkably like the green of the Caribbean.

"Princess Kairi Talerith?" he asked. Kairi stopped and looked inquiringly at the man.

"Yes?" she asked hesitantly. He flipped up an I.D. badge.

"You are under arrest Milady," he said, and she could tell by the subtle tones hidden within his voice that he greatly regretted doing this.

"On what charge?" Naminé asked heatedly as a young woman with khaki coloured hair and cinnamon eyes swept past her to gently, but firmly, place a hand on Kairi's arm. Another woman with long raven coloured hair came and took the other arm, her eyes half closed and her face pointed downwards.

"The charge is treason," the red-haired man answered. "You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you-" Kairi stopped paying attention as the man continued to speak, listing off her rights or privileges or whatever it was he was saying as she suffered herself to be led into a van to the astonishment of her friends. She just couldn't understand.

_How did they find out? And why now?_

-A-D-

Sora had been aboard the _Highwind_ for perhaps two hours when he was able to faintly hear the alert that they were receiving a transmission. He looked up at the bridge, for he had been within the cabin and in front of his TV, checking out the games based on his adventures that Max had been playing. They were surprisingly accurate, especially concerning his dreams, but what he truly marvelled at were the portions detailing his twin brother in Twilight Town. He stumbled upon Roxas' memories of his life in Twilight Town when he looked into his mind, remembering that not so long ago they had been one.

He was… angered at what Riku, Naminé, and Ansem the Wise had done to Roxas while he had been stuck in the Virtual Twilight Town. But he still hadn't reached that part in the game yet. He was still making munny from delivering mail on Roxas' skateboard so that they could go to the beach (even though he knew from quickly examining the memories that were not his own that Riku stole the munny before they could buy tickets).

So to break from the monotony of constantly going through the same mission over and over again, completing it in under sixteen seconds every single time, he left it on pause and began moving towards the steps that would lead him up to the bridge. He wondered who the transmission was from, and what it was about.

"She's what!?"

Sora stopped and frowned at King Mickey's voice. The monarch appeared incredibly distressed. Sora started moving again, his pace quickening. He leapt up the last three steps and landed hard on his sock feet, almost losing his balance.

"Leon thinks it's the AMRGP," the voice, Riku's said from the transmission.

"No, not them," King Mickey sighed, holding his head in one hand as he sat at a console that Sora had once sat in.

"What's up Riku?" Sora asked, looking at his friend on the screen. Riku glanced at King Mickey, but then shook his head slightly to himself and looked Sora square in the eyes.

"Kairi was arrested for treason not three minutes after you left."

Sora felt his throat constrict and his eyes lost their focus for half a second.

"What?" he asked, painfully discovering that his breath was coming to him in painful gasps. Not waiting for an answer, Sora looked at King Mickey. "Your Majesty, turn the ship around. We have to go back to her."

King Mickey's slump vanished as he straightened up, his face once more adopting the grim composure it held when dealing with forces of darkness. He said quite clearly, "No."

Sora blinked at the King and held his gaze for a few seconds, the beginnings of anger rippling through his chest. "Are you joking me Your Majesty? We have to go back, we have to help her!"

"We will Sora," King Mickey replied. "But not with you." Sora shook his head quickly in an act of angered confusion. His eyes flickered at Riku for only a fraction of a second, seeing his best friend just as confused as he was.

"Why not me?" Sora asked heatedly.

"Your involvement could only make the situation worse," King Mickey explained.

"How could it be any worse?" Sora asked in frustration.

"Leon thinks that the charges were pressed by the AMRGP," Donald said, shaking his head.

"They're probably the reason," Goofy said, putting his fist in his other hand. He then scratched his head. "Whoever they are."

"The AMRGP is The Anti Monarchists of Radiant Garden Party," King Mickey said. "They don't want Kairi or Naminé to become Queen, they don't trust their history of benevolent monarchs and think that absolute power is too much for one person, and they are afraid of and have no love for the keyblades or those who wield them." Sora stopped and stared at King Mickey for several seconds.

Riku was the one to break the silence. "They're scared of _us_?" he asked.

"Think of the power you wield," answered The King. "Think of the strength and power all of us wield. Now remember that both Kairi and Naminé are wielders of the keyblade and that both of them are royalty of Radiant Garden. One of them is going to become queen by the pressure of the vast number of people that want to have the line of queens and kings continue. The great number of people in Radiant Garden want a single person to look up to, want a single person to idolize and love in association with their country with a greater patriotic fervour than they believe can be achieved by a number of squabbling, bickering elected representatives whose main motives never appear to be the good of their world, but their own political movements and stratagems."

"The AMRGP doesn't want a single person to be able to be loved so much that patriotic fever could sweep the land and nameless people would lay themselves at their ruler's feet and swear fealty to them until their dying breath. In their minds, there is too much power in that position so there is too great a risk in case the ruler were to become corrupted."

"Makes sense," Sora said reluctantly. "But what does any of this have to do with Kairi? Even if she does end up becoming the Queen of Radiant Garden, she wouldn't be corrupted by the power at her fingertips."

"We all know that, but the fact that she and now Naminé are the last remaining members of the Royal Family of Talerith means that they are the last of the line. With Kairi being charged for treason, she could be forcibly disowned and unable to inherit the crown on her nineteenth birthday. If that were to happen, there would only be Naminé left, and the AMRGP could employ all of its resources on finding a way to force her to abdicate her right to the throne."

"Wait, nineteen?" Sora asked quickly. "We'd only have three years left before she would become Queen?"

"Or Naminé," King Mickey said, nodding. Sora held his head in his gloved hands and was silent for a minute. Most of everything King Mickey said made perfect sense, even if this political party was stupid for thinking that Kairi would be anything less than kind to her people. He also figured out that charging her for treason made sense as well, given that she was trying to strike a deal with Maleficent in a way that would have left them disadvantaged. But one thing nagged at him until he couldn't bear it anymore.

"Why now?" he asked finally.

"What do you mean Sora?" Riku asked.

"Why now?" Sora asked again. "Why would they target her _now_? The instant we leave, they took her. They could have just taken her away at any time after they found out, whenever or however that was, but they waited until we were gone. Why?"

"I think it's because of you Sora," Riku answered, looking down. "I don't know why, but I think they waited until you specifically were gone."

"Why?" Sora asked again, confusion striking him again.

"They're probably scared of yah Sora," Goofy said. "You are Kairi's boyfriend after all."

"And if what the King said about them being afraid of wielders is true," Donald added, "then because you're the keyblade master scares the pants off of them."

Sora ran a shaking hand past the spikes of his hair. He wondered why things still surprised him.

"But I'm not the keyblade master anymore," he said weakly. "I can't call it anymore."

"Oh shut up Sora!" Riku snapped. "I'm sick and tired of you whining! Oh, I can't summon the keyblade anymore so I can protect anyone or fight Maleficent anymore. Go on ahead guys, I'll just hang back here and feel sorry for myself because I lost my keyblade and Mommy and now I have nowhere to turn. Grow up already!"

"Leave my mother out of this Riku!" Sora shouted.

"Then stop running away from who you are Sora!" Riku retorted.

"I'm not running Riku! I know who I am!"

"Then who are you Sora?" Riku asked calmly. Sora stopped and stared at Riku, fuming. Kairi had asked him that very same question hours earlier in the morning, and he still couldn't manage to find an answer that would satisfy the burning question in his head. Riku smirked and ended the transmission. Sora turned away angrily. He hated to let Riku win.

"You being there would only put Kairi into more danger Sora," King Mickey said, trying to be tender. "You are the keyblade master, whether you believe it in yourself anymore or not. Every last keyblade in existence calls you its master, and will answer your call and lend you their power if you have but the heart to let it."

"Then why can't I summon it anymore?" Sora asked, his voice still retaining its anger from his argument with Riku. He started leaving, his question rhetorical.

"You've stopped listening." King Mickey answered simply.

Sora pretended not to have heard him and left the bridge for his room, bypassing his paused game. He dropped himself on the bed and stared at the hanging canopy, his anger at Riku ebbing away to be replaced by sadness. He hated letting Riku win, but he hated arguing and being angry with him more. His mother had once said that angry words fuelled bitter feelings, and bitter feelings could not love or live.

He sat on his bed in silence, holding his right hand above his head. His ears strained in the silence, broken only by the soft thump of his beating heart and the gentle wind of his breath.

He couldn't hear anything.

He dropped his hand from his vain attempt at doing what had almost become instinctively second nature to him, and rolled around so that his face was on the side of his pillows. A tear of hopelessness slid out of his eye.

He felt so small and alone in that moment, that he wanted nothing more than to be hugged lovingly by his mother and have her cradle his head and rub his back. She was the one person who had always been able to soothe his worries and fears away. The only one who was able to comfort him when he needed to be comforted.

Sora was unaware of the passage of time as he lay on his bed, but it seemed like only minutes had passed by when Goofy slowly appeared by his whooshing door and told him that they were at their destination.

"So where exactly are we?" he asked, not really caring as he tried to rub the redness out of his eyes.

"You'll know when you see what you become," Donald answered, joining Goofy. The two of them led a puzzled Sora towards the landing ramp, where they stopped before it had opened.

"Your clothes won't transform you anymore Sora, since it seems you lost them," Goofy said, "So Donald here will have to change you, just like in the old days, ahyuk." Sora smiled slightly and closed his eyes, preparing himself for the magic that would wash over him. Green light filtered in through his eyelids, and he felt himself shrinking, and an itching sensation coming from his tailbone as it grew. His centre of gravity shifted as his legs shrunk and took a new position on his body, further in front of his hips than before. Sora felt his face changing, his mouth growing outwards into a muzzle and his nose turning into a button on the tip of the snout. Whiskers tickled him as they poked out from the snout, and he felt himself growing thick fur all over his body as his clothes receded from existence. His crest and crown pendant that both hung about his neck struck against the hair growing up on his shrinking chest.

He'd never really noticed before how it felt to change into a new form. He'd always just shifted uncomfortably until it was over, not really paying attention to the changes in his body.

He plopped down on all fours at once, a metallic clang coming from his left foreleg. Sora looked himself all over, and one glance at his tail, paws, and ash-coloured fur confirmed for him that he was a lion. He would be heading into the Pride Lands once more.

What intrigued him most though was the change his automail arm went through. Well, it didn't really intrigue him, it was just that his left foreleg was now automail, and that its paw could retract sharp claws just like his other paws.

The landing ramp lowered and Sora bounded out. The change into becoming a lion always made his bones tingle with excitement and feel the need to stretch his four legs. It was dark outside, the waxing moon mid-way between its first half and being full was hidden behind a few large clouds, and the starlight that was not hidden could only barely touch the ground. The only light he could readily see by was that which still streamed from the ship, the rest of the landscape was draped in shadows.

Sora looked around with apprehension. He'd never been in the Pride Lands during the night before, and being in the middle of a vast and grassy savannah with such little light to find his way daunted him. He felt something land on his rump and turned his head as far as it could go to see Jiminy scrambling through his fur to get to the spiky mane that had been his hair.

"I'm coming with you Sora," the cricket announced, settling into his mane. "I've missed too much of your adventures so far to be kept out of this one." Sora smiled, but looked sharply at the landing ramp of the _Highwind_ as it began to rise, Donald and Goofy still standing at the top. King Mickey had joined them now.

"Wait!" he cried. "Where are you going?"

"We'll try and do what we can for Kairi," King Mickey said. "We'll be back in three days for you Sora."

"Good luck Sora!" Donald said.

"We hope you can forgive us," Goofy added, inclining his head sombrely towards his friend. Sora ran back to the ship, but he was already too far away and the ramp was raised too high. He scratched against the side of the ship in vain until the rocket engines roared into life and the _Highwind_ began lifting off once more.

The force of the wind that began to blow was enough to force Sora to bow his head and grasp the ground with his claws to keep him from being blown into the ship. The wind howled fiercely, as if the world itself wanted something so foreign to it to be gone at once. Sora's closed eyes couldn't keep himself from being blinded by the blue light the Gummi ship's engines emitted as it turned around in the air, mere feet in front of and above him. He quickly came to the realization that it might not have been a very good idea for them to install those extra engines with Max. They burned into his eyes with a ferocious intensity.

Within thirty seconds however, the _Highwind_ was far in the sky, the trailing light from its engines making it look like a tiny star that moved across the heavens, until it was no longer visible at all. It took Sora's feline eyes only fifteen more seconds to adjust to such low levels of light that the few visible stars provided him with, and he looked around anxiously.

The long grass of the savannah whispered in the wind that blew across the sleeping land. Small particles of dirt picked up from some far off location stung his eyes as the breeze came into his face. Sora had no idea where to begin roaming. He could make out no landmarks in the night, even the sparse trees were unidentifiable except for the dark outlines they made above the grassy horizon.

Jiminy was silent, something that Sora was used to, but right now he felt so tiny in such a vast untamed wilderness that he desperately needed someone to talk to in order to take his mind off of how small the long buffalo grass made him feel. He'd never been in the Pride Lands when it had been so lush, only when it had been a barren and desolate wasteland, and the change had both heartened and unnerved him. If there was so much growth, that meant that there had to be a large number of animals around.

"Jiminy," he asked frightfully, taking one step forward into the dark, "do you think that there might be any hyenas around?"

"I'm pretty sure they aren't here Sora," answered Jiminy, poking his head out from Sora's mane. Sora perked his ears up, was there a contented sigh in Jiminy's voice? "I think Simba would have taken care of them." Sora nodded his head and continued on his way, being careful not to trip over a rock that appeared out of nowhere in front of his left foreleg. It struck him how odd the metal joints moving sounded in a place such as this.

"But do you think that there might be some predator here?" Sora asked Jiminy. "Some creature that wouldn't shrink away from eating a little lion cub?"

"I'm sure that they'd leave us be Sora," Jiminy said. "I think that you're the only predator here. If anything, they'd either be scared of you, or they'd chase you away."

"Oh," Sora answered, moving his thicker tongue about in his mouth to examine his sharp teeth. He'd forgotten that lions were predatory carnivores.

"I don't mean to be rude Sora," Jiminy sighed. "But I find the sound of the crickets chirping here in the night soothing, and I'd like to listen to them if you don't mind." Sora paused and twitched his ears, listening.

"Oh, sorry Jiminy," he apologized, hearing the tiny insects playing their nightly music. He continued on through the thick grasslands of the savannah, stumbling on a root by an occasional tree or a hidden rock that he couldn't spot in time.

Sora wearied as he trudged through the land. He had no idea where he was or where he was going, only that his limbs were becoming heavy and tired, except for the automail one. But even that leg he still needed to mentally work up the strength to move it, if not the physical strength as well. Eventually he heard soft and deeply rhythmic breathing from the cricket that concealed itself within his hair, and realized that Jiminy was asleep.

Sora looked up at the veiled sky, finding it increasingly hard to navigate his way through the wild buffalo grass. He'd accidentally ventured into a herd of sleeping wildebeest in a clearing about an hour previous. The adults woke up instantly and stamped their hooves on the hard ground, frightening Sora away. He ran and ran for at least ten minutes on end, the sight and sound of their hooves fiercely stomping onto the ground, crushing even the rocks beneath them had scared Sora with an intricately primal fear for his own survival. Even the shadowed rocks and trees appeared nothing more than blurs as the grass rustled loudly when he ran through it as a gruelling pace.

Sora hung his head and shook it. He didn't know what he could do.

_"Where has the starlight gone?  
Dark is the day.  
How can I find my way home?"_

Sora looked up again into the dark night sky, taking a step forward as he struggled with his own emotions.

_"Home is an empty dream;__  
Lost to the night.  
Mother I feel so alone.  
_

_You promised you'd be there;  
Whenever I needed you.  
Whenever I call your name;__  
You're not anywhere._

_I'm trying to hold on;  
Just waiting to hear your voice.  
One word just a word will do;  
To end this nightmare."_

He felt a dark presence in the back of his mind, but he tried to dismiss it, deciding to sporadically run in the darkness, pausing occasionally to look pleadingly into the sky.

_"__When will the dawning break;  
Oh endless night?  
Sleepless I dream of the day.  
_

_When you were by my side;  
Guiding my path.  
Mother I can't find the way._

_You promised you'd be there;  
Whenever I needed you.  
Whenever I call your name;__  
You're not anywhere._

_I'm trying to hold on;  
Just waiting to hear your voice.  
One word just a word will do;  
To end this nightmare."_

Sora heard a voice speak into his mind, and his skin crawled when he could not recognize it as Roxas'. It was dark and seething, hissing like a coiling snake about to devour a trapped mouse. Dark delight was evident throughout, and it echoed with haunting clarity.

_It's your fault you know. Why would she speak to the one who caused her death?_

"Shut up Anti," Sora said quietly. Anti-form chuckled in his mind.

_Why should I not speak the truth? You know it to be true._

"I said shut up!" Sora roared. A flight of sleeping birds took flight from the tree they were in, startling Sora. Anti-form laughed menacingly, but withdrew. His eerie laugh remained, echoing around in Sora's head. How he wished that the memory of the feeling of Kairi's kiss could have lasted as long as the laugh of one who made his blood turn to ice and his skin writhe with a thousand invisible spiders.

Sora shuddered at the thought, and looked up as he found himself in the shadow of a massive acacia tree. He thought he saw a shadowed form hulking within the boughs or dells in the tree's trunk far above him, but right now he was so tired that he found he didn't care.

Lying down at the base of the monumental truck, Sora placed his head on his front legs, shifting slightly so that he rested more on the one that had soft fur covering it, and slowly passed into a fitful sleep.

The figure in the tree above him gave a quick glance at the tree's trunk itself, before bypassing a long stick with a few gourds attached to it. The dark shadow leapt up into the branches until it was sitting on the very top of the canopy.

"He has come," the figure said aloud. He gazed up into the dark night sky, giggling to himself. "He is alive Anne." The wind blew around the figure, hunched onto of the tree's highest branches. "Do not worry he will discover who he is. You trust in old Rafiki as Mufasa does." The mandrill's shadowy form leapt off of the canopy back into the dell in the tree's trunk, peering down at the sleeping lion.

-A-D-

_So now Sora is in the Pride Lands__, and he couldn't have picked a worse spot to fall asleep. Rafiki's tree!_

_I pity him when he wakes up…_

_In case you want to know, and don't know, the song Sora was singing was about half of 'Endless Night' from the Lion King Broadway musical production. And if you like Haynette (Hayner X Olette) fics, 'A Summertime Promise' by __**luckylifex**__ is a great oneshot._

_Happy Thanksgiving!_

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	17. The Pride Lands

_Heads up, LONG author's note at the start of this one._

_Conservatives won a stronger minority, and with the worst voter turnout in Canadian History. I swear, nobody seems to know how to vote anymore. Every election it sounds like it's the lowest voter turnout in history. In 2004 when Paul Martin won a minority it was the lowest voter turnout. In Alberta this year it was the lowest voter turnout with less than half of all eligible Albertans voting, so about .22 of all Albertans voted in a large majority Progressive Conservative Legislative Assembly. I think there's only like, 15 seats or less held against them. There is no opposition in Alberta's government._

_And the Conservatives took every riding here except Edmonton Strathcona, which was NDP (YES!). Unfortunately, that wasn't my riding. I'm in Edmonton Sherwood Park, and the race was between Tim Uppal (Conservative) and James Ford (Independent who would have walked the floor to the Conservatives if elected). But I didn't vote for either of them, I voted NDP! The NDP and Green parties should make sure that they go through High Schools, Collages, and Universities throughout election campaigns. As I said before via my Social teacher, the young are often the ones who are furthest left and will vote more for either of those parties than for Conservative. Unless they suffer from an esteem disorder which makes them like Ophelia from Hamlet, and they will listen to whatever their parents, boyfriend, or husband says. My mother once encountered a woman while she was at work who said that she just votes for whoever her husband tells her to vote for. Idiots..._

_And Americans, if you are of legal voting age, go and register to vote and VOTE for Christ's sake! Your vote counts! The Albertan NDP Member of Parliament, she won by a small margin of only four hundred votes. Your vote does count!_

_Yeah, Kairi did get arrested, but I'm not going into her situation this chapter. Right now you all are going to have to stomach through Sora in the Pride Lands. I'm a little surprised though, almost no one mentioned whether they liked the bit of Hayner and Olette._

_And that brings me to a point that I've been mulling over for the past couple of weeks. I've come to love this story that I'm writing, and love all of the characters, even those I hate (like Anti). I'm especially fond of my OCs, after all, who wouldn't become attached to the characters they themselves create? But I'm finding that the main story of __**The Annals of Darkness**__, keeping in stride with Kingdom Hearts itself, is more about Sora, Riku, Kairi, Roxas, and Naminé. And no matter how much I love Anar, Isil, Jeffery, Charlie, and Kia, (not to mention the great number of other characters such as the members of Avalanche, the Gullwings, or the respective casts from Destiny Islands or Twilight Town) they are increasingly getting tossed to the wayside into their roles of subsidiary characters._

_However, I like them too much and try to showcase them whenever I get the chance. But, sometimes this just feels like me saying, 'Hey look at these people! They're still here, they're still doing stuff, watch them for a while and give our main characters a break!'_

_So because the OCs as well as the others actually play an important role in the war against Maleficent and her heartless and nobody armies, I was thinking about creating (or commissioning) a side-along story that details more of what they do while __**The War**__ focuses more on our keyblade heroes while still showing the others occasionally. The problem being that if I do decide to do this, that takes more writing time away from __**The War**__, even though it would satisfy me and whoever would read it. So, if someone would like to write it for me, I'd be very grateful._

_Think about it if you want, anyone interested can contact me via either PM or e-mail._

_Oh and if it's at all possible for any of you to go and see the movie __**Passchendaele**__, go and watch it. My brother and sister Canadians I say this especially to you in remembrance of our fallen. Surely you must all recall the author's note I left at the end of XXXI: Battle against Devimon about Remembrance Day. Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele defined us as a nation and were crucial steps in gaining our sovereignty. If you don't know where you come from, how can you expect to get to where you're going?_

_And one more thing if anyone is still reading this far: From now on, Prince Allan shall be known as Prince Alain. His name has already been changed in all chapters referencing him. My sister smacked me upside the head the other night and gives a slap to every single one of us that named him 'Adam' because we are giving a prince from a _French_ fairy-tale _English_ names. 'Adam' is Hebrew and English. She implores all of us to change his name into a French one. After all, we have 'Belle', 'Gaston' 'Lefou' (le fou, making it a feminine name for a male person), 'Lumiere' and 'Maurice'. All French!_

_Anyways, to the chapter._

_Disclaimer: (Fires an RPG at the charred disclaimer sign)._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter XVII: The Pride Lands

Pain struck Sora as he quickly woke up from his slumber in the shadow of the massive tree he had found. Yelping, he instinctively placed his paws upon his head to protect it from further damage as well as to feel the extent to which it had suffered. He only hurt himself further as his left foreleg struck first, the metal hitting his head harder than expected. Sora grunted in pain and suddenly realized that there was a distressed cry coming from his head.

"Be careful Sora," said Jiminy Cricket from within Sora's hair, whacking his head further with a sharp rap from the cane of his umbrella. "You almost hit me."

"Sorry Jiminy," Sora apologized.

"Yes you should be sorry," another voice said. "You fell asleep under my tree without telling me. What did you think you were doing young keyblade master?" Sora opened his eyes and looked up at the figure standing in front of him.

He immediately recognized the mandrill Rafiki, shaman to the pride of lions that lived within the Pride Lands. Rafiki's stick was in his right hand, gourds tied onto the top of the strong, knotted wood.

"Why'd you hit me Rafiki?" Sora moaned, still rubbing the crown of his head with his paws. Rafiki bopped him again with the stick, drawing a clang as it reverberated off of the automail paw on top. Rafiki pulled his stick back and looked at it with disdain, as if he couldn't understand why it had failed him. At the same time, Sora glanced at his automail paw. He'd felt the wood strike it all right, but he hadn't felt any pain from the contact. Sora looked up at the musing monkey for a second before the stick came down again and struck him in the side.

"You should not be the one asking the questions here," Rafiki said, satisfied that he was still able to hit Sora. "You come to my home, unannounced, and expect me to welcome you with open arms? Ha! And Queen Nala thought you were intelligent enough to be King of Pride Rock."

"Sorry," Sora said, now examining his side to see if it would bruise. "I'll give a shout next time I'm tired and wandering in the dark." Sora quickly noticed just how often he was apologizing so early in the morning.

And indeed it was morning. The dawning Sun was shining brightly on the horizon, and the grasslands all around the tree were twitching in anticipation of the breeze that would blow through them. There was a slight mist coming up from the ground, and Sora noticed the many drops of dew shimmering on the buffalo grass. He looked around in the early morning light, and smiled when he was able to just make out Pride Rock, the golden brown stone jutting out majestically over the green grass.

He felt another rap of Rafiki's stick on his rump and grunted as he forcibly sat down, his tail curling around him. Sora turned his eyes to Rafiki in frustration. What did the old baboon want now?

"What are you doing here Sora?" Rafiki asked, waving his arms upwards. "The Pride Lands are at peace. There be no darkness here since you and your friend Kairi were taken away. I sense that your fight still continues. You should be out among the stars, fighting, fighting!"

Sora looked away from Rafiki ashamedly. He didn't know what the shaman would do if he told him the truth, but he was sure that Rafiki would keep hitting him with his stick whether he told him or not. Another whack, this time in Sora's chest, prompted him to tell Rafiki.

"I can't summon the keyblade anymore Rafiki," Sora explained. "So King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy dropped Jiminy and me off here."

"You are still the keyblade master," Rafiki said seriously, needing only one second to take in what Sora said. "But you have forgotten _this_." Sora flinched and hit the ground, expecting Rafiki to bop him with the stick again, but instead Rafiki sympathetically picked him up and prodded Sora in his heart with a finger.

"I haven't forgotten my heart," Sora said, affronted that Rafiki would even suggest such a thing to _him_.

"That's what you think," Rafiki huffed, using his stick as a walking prop.

"Hey," Sora asked in confusion as Rafiki began leaving him. "Hey, where are you going?"

"The water hole," Rafiki answered simply. "If you're going to live here, you're going to adapt to how we do things in the Pride Lands."

"But," Sora answered slowly, quickly coming to walk beside the old mandrill. "I'm only here for three days." Rafiki stopped and stared purposefully at Sora.

"Then you are living as a lion for three days!" he said again. Jerking his head, Rafiki continued on, while Sora twisted his head in a confused gesture before bounding after the monkey. He was amazed at how quickly the old creature could move.

As they plodded along through the grasslands, they crested a small hill, and Sora was able to see that the water hole Rafiki spoke of was several kilometers away through the rolling grasses. He sighed and hung his head. It looked like there would be a long walk ahead of him before he could even get a good drink of water, and his tummy was rumbling. He had cooked himself something on the _Highwind_ the previous night for supper, but he could no longer remember what it was. It had been many hours ago, and he had wandered the night until he'd stumbled with weariness.

Rafiki took the opportunity of Sora's silence to ask him a question that had nagged at him ever since seeing the young keyblade master again. "What could you have done to get your leg to become as hard as rock while still gleaming like the moon?" Sora glanced at him in confusion before recognizing the clacking sounds that his automail made whenever he moved it.

"Oh," he said quietly, keeping his eyes away from Rafiki and feeling uncomfortable. Rafiki's eyes had this strange tendency to make him feel very small and young, and their gaze was able to strike through any defence he might have, making Sora very insecure about discussing anything of personal importance with the wise mandrill.

But, Rafiki's stick was still by the shaman's side.

"It's called automail," Sora answered, glancing at the leg and plate that attached it to his shoulder. "I lost my arm, I mean _leg_ in a fight, and my friends built me a new one. But, I don't really want to talk about it right now. I can't really change things."

"Ah, change," Rafiki mused, reaching up to his stick and grabbing a gourd off of it. "Change can be good." Rafiki laughed to himself and broke the gourd into two halves. He poured all the juice that hadn't spilled to the ground into one half and placed the other on the tip of his staff. Rafiki drank and ate the gourd as the two continued onwards.

Sora's stomach was rumbling loudly and he licked his lips with his tongue, watching Rafiki eat. His mind told him that he should eat it, but for some reason his stomach was rejecting the idea of the sweet fragrant fruit entering it. He asked Rafiki if he could have some anyway.

Rafiki quickly slapped Sora with his staff again, and Sora was painfully reminded of Piximon's training as that small little puffball kept hitting everyone with his short spear.

"Lions eat meat young cub!" Rafiki laughed. "Meat and _only_ meat! Why did you think you could eat fruit too?"

"Well," Sora answered slowly, scratching himself with his hind leg where Rafiki had just hit him (it surprised him that he was able to do that, but he was only doing it because the fur had become sticky thanks to the juices that had been on the end of the stick). "The species that I'm actually from, we're omnivores. We can eat both plants and animals."

"Then you are still thinking as a human and not a lion," Rafiki said, shaking his head. "The lion is a hunter, not a forager. Did you think it did not matter what you were? That you could do as you like because of what your head told you?"

Sora mumbled quietly, "Uh, yeah. Kinda, I guess." Sora looked up suddenly as Rafiki appeared directly in front of him, his finger prodding into Sora's nose.

"You have the heart of a lion now Sora," said the mandrill. He poked Sora in his white-furred chest, right over his heart. "You must listen and follow this if you are to survive." Sora nodded vehemently when he noticed Rafiki's stick in a position that he had quickly learned meant 'imminent attack on poor lion cub'. Rafiki relaxed his grip on his staff and started off once more, his stride quickening. Sora raced after him, assuming that the number of times Rafiki had struck him with the staff had only increased the monkey's thirst.

"You should listen to Rafiki Sora," Jiminy said from atop Sora's head. "He's a good mentor if I remember correctly."

"Thanks for reminding me Jiminy," Sora said agitatedly. Why were so many people telling him to follow his heart these days? Hadn't he been all this time? Wasn't following his heart what got him through defeating Xehanort's heartless and nobody? "And thanks for hitting me on the head with your umbrella too by the way."

"There's no need to be sarcastic Sora," Jiminy said, frowning. Sora sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry Jiminy," he apologized again. "I guess I'm just a little in edge. Rafiki's been so unpredictable, and I'm hungry and thirsty."

"It's okay Sora," said Jiminy, rubbing his head a little. Sora was amazed at how much that tiny gloved hand soothed him and brightened the world. "Just remember that your friends are here to help you, not hinder you."

"Even if your methods are a little annoying," Sora added, still trying to catch up with Rafiki. Jiminy laughed and nodded but did not say any more. Sora was grateful. The grass was getting to such a height on him that it was getting difficult to still keep track of Rafiki's bobbing staff even though they were on an often used and well-worn animal path. He called for Rafiki to wait up, but all he heard was a mangled reply about having to hurry, or else the Sun would be high before they could get a drink.

Sora wondered about this for a minute, and then he was able to detect a slight rumbling in the ground from his paws every time he placed them on terra firma. He paused for a moment and stared, the feeling coming from the quaking earth very peculiar. His ears picked up a faint noise that sounded somewhat like a trumpet and he turned his head.

He could just make out the fait outlines of at least a dozen African Elephants. The great gray pachyderms were moving at a pace that could be best described as a trot, but even a trot for them was insanely fast for the rather diminutive in comparison lion cub that was Sora.

Realizing that Rafiki was right, Sora took off after the crazy old mandrill at a run, using his ability to dash across the savannah that Nala had taught him when they had to jump a great distance to get into a gorge. He would quickly extract his claws, dig them into the ground, and, using the extra traction, push himself forward with greater force and control. Each paw came down seamlessly as his dash turned into more an art-form of powerful, short leaps. Not for the first time, Sora appreciated the defined leg muscles of a lion's body. He'd never been able to run so fast as a human without using magic to aid him. The closest he'd ever come was the special ability his Wisdom Form had left him with, but he could only ever Quick Run to a location within fifteen feet, never fifteen hundred feet.

However, a lion's speed was to be used in short bursts in conjunction with adrenaline; the lion was not a long-distance track runner. He'd seen Simba defy that, but that was Simba, and Sora was already tiring.

He caught up to and even broke past Rafiki, his limbs beginning to ache as lactic acid started forming within the overworking muscle tissue. Even as a lion, Sora realized with a pang just what Dr. Fraiser had mentioned. He was _not_ in top physical shape. He was _not_ fit. He wasn't fat, but he wasn't built either. Hence why he was underweight, he had little muscle tissue.

Panting, Sora found himself forced to slow down and catch his breath, Rafiki coming alongside him, laughing as Sora coughed out lungful after lungful of useless air. He could barely make himself put one paw in front of the other, his body screaming at him to let his legs rest for a few minutes after his two hundred metre dash.

Rafiki prodded him along however, forcing him to keep his legs moving even while he breathed heavily. Sora hung his head and continued following the mandrill, even though his pace was subdued from what it had been before. All he wanted for the moment was to get to that waterhole and drink it dry.

The shaking tremors beneath his feet were still there, but his run had gained him some distance over the approaching elephants, and that meant a little bit more time before they would arrive. A little more time to drink, a little more time to rest, that's all he wanted. The wind was blowing, and despite his fur, he felt very chilled as a bit of the morning mist blew onto his fur.

The next thing Sora realized, he was staring at a very large pool of water. Blinking his eyes in disbelief, he looked over at Rafiki. The mandrill was already drinking, one of the empty halves of the gourd he broke filled to the brim with the water. Sora looked down at the water hole again, staring at the liquid. He wasn't quite sure, but it didn't look very clear or clean. Or maybe that was just the colour of the soil underneath it visible through the shallows where he stood. He glanced around at the other animals that were there: several (he was unable to count the exact number) zebras, a plethora of birds, some brown-furred monkeys, three gazelles, and a group of wildebeest (he hoped that they weren't the ones he'd run into the previous night). None of them seemed perturbed by the water, and Rafiki didn't appear to be either. Shrugging to himself, Sora lowered his head down, and began to drink. The water splashed up onto his muzzle a little as he lapped it up with his tongue. He didn't mind, he was too thirsty to care that his snout was now a little cooler than it had been mere seconds before.

Jiminy hopped out of his mane onto the ground right next to the water. He scooped some up with a large teapot that was in his tiny hands and then bounded away towards the grass near Rafiki. Sora wasn't watching, but within a minute his nose picked up the faint scent of smoke and the weaker fragrance of warming tea, while his ears detected tiny twigs crackle with flame.

The water began to ripple, and Sora raised his head slightly, his muzzle dripping from the water that had washed into it. He felt the ground shaking again.

The wildebeest bolted away in fright, their hooves shaking the ground even more. The zebras quickly cantered off to graze in the grass just out of the way of the water hole. The monkeys started chattering horribly, their screaming voices causing a cacophony within Sora's head, and left, clambering up nearby trees and swinging onto the ground or simply running away. The birds took flight, their voices raised in distress.

The gazelles stayed, strangely.

Sora felt someone lifting him up by the scruff of his neck, and quickly found himself caught in Rafiki's grasp. Jiminy Cricket was sitting atop Rafiki's hand, a mug of steaming tea in his little hands. Jiminy must have felt the morning chill as well.

"The elephants come," Rafiki said. He tossed Sora up in the air, Sora giving a yelp of sudden discomfort, and then caught him in the crook of his arm. "It would not be good for you to be trampled because they did not see you. What would King Simba say to that?"

"But I'm still thirsty," complained Sora. He wasn't that great in drinking as an animal, and he had only begun to get the hang of actually getting water into his mouth and consequently, stomach. Rafiki grunted slightly and carried Sora around to the other side of the water hole, right next to the three Thomson's Gazelles. Rafiki dropped Sora onto the ground and prodded him slightly with another whack to his rear with his staff. Sora grunted slightly in sudden pain and gave Rafiki a disgruntled look before treading carefully just into the shallows and dipping his head in to drink. All four of his paws felt pleasantly cool and wet in the water, and he dearly hoped that at some point Winry, Pinako, or Ed had said that automail would not be harmed by water. He would not have liked to be walking or even running around the Pride Lands with a rusted paw.

The three gazelles looked curiously at Sora and Rafiki. Two of them rolled their eyes and continued to drink, seeing the old mandrill give them a fierce glare for staring, but one worked up the courage to speak, taking a few steps closer to Sora.

"I haven't seen you at the water hole before," she said. Sora looked up from where he was drinking at the gazelle, surprised that it was a female that was speaking to him. Oddly enough, he quickly realized that he already had a fair number of female friends that he'd made while adventuring.

"I haven't been here much before," Sora replied. Unknown to Sora, Rafiki had retreated into a nearby tree and was smiling to himself.

"I'm Swara," the gazelle said, introducing herself. Sora allowed himself a quick overlook of Swara. The gazelle looked to be a little more like a younger one, just coming into adulthood when compared to the two gazelles next to her. But even then that meant that she was tiny by human standards, for her shoulders had her stand at just forty centimetres. Her straight sandy horns were rather short, probably to do with her age, and if Sora was a human he would have judged the width of them by a single finger basis.

"Sora," he replied in kind, quickly studying the various white and black patches on her body, including the large black band of hair that divided her cinnamon coloured top from her white underside. And her black tail kept twitching. Likewise, Swara was studying him. Sora couldn't help but notice her eyes, accented by a black strip of hair that went on to include her nose while her forehead had a white splotch in the centre, sweeping over his irregular mane of light brown hair, ash-coloured coat, crown pendant and crest that both hung from his neck, and most importantly, his automail arm… leg!

Sora shifted uncomfortably as he felt Swara's eyes fixated on his metal appendage, and leaned his head down to drink again. He didn't find himself that thirsty at the moment, even though his body still craved the water. Drinking was just an excuse to occupy himself while he hoped that the gazelle would stop.

Apparently she didn't notice until it was Rafiki who broke her from her rut. "It's impolite to stare!" he called from the tree he occupied. Swara quickly looked over at the mandrill before back at Sora, who couldn't help from chuckling slightly.

"Maybe he'll hit you with his staff," Sora said, giving Swara a sideways smile.

"Why would he do that?" Swara asked.

"Means he likes you," answered Sora.

"I heard that you little tabby cat!" Sora looked up from the water hole and turned to face Rafiki.

"Tabby cats are orange!" he retorted. Swara laughed slightly and Sora grinned at her.

"I'm sorry for staring," she said apologetically.

"It's cool," Sora said, appearing to shrug it off. He'd just figured out that unless he could find a way to hide his automail, he'd have to endure a lot more awkward stares and questions.

"If you don't mind me asking," Swara pressed. "What happened?"

"Swara!" one of the other gazelles said sharply. Swara flinched at the sound of the male's voice and Sora recognized that he had to be her father. "I'm sorry if our daughter has been troubling you sir," the male continued.

"No, it- it's alright," Sora answered, holding up a paw to slow him down. "But, you don't need to call me 'sir' or anything. Just 'Sora' is fine by me."

"Very well then," Swara's father said, inclining his head with its long horns, curved slightly backwards with the tips pointed forward.

"Daddy…" Swara whined.

"Don't you 'Daddy' me miss," her father said sternly, bending his head down and looking at her in a serious way. "You are speaking to a lion, show more respect."

"You shouldn't be so harsh on her," Swara's mother said, still drinking from the water hole.

"It's okay," Sora intervened quickly. "She asked a question is all." Swara smiled a bit.

"Thanks Sora," she said.

"'S what friends are for," said Sora.

"Friends?" Swara asked with a hint of bemusement in her voice. "A gazelle friends with a lion?"

"Why not?" Sora asked, scrunching his face up in confusion. "I'm already friends with a meerkat and a warthog, why not a gazelle too?" Sora pawed the soft ground underneath the shallows nervously, stirring up some of the silt and mud. He was glad to see that none got into his automail, but it still didn't relieve his tension. "I haven't told anyone this, but I rarely come to the Pride Lands and apart from the other lions and Rafiki over there, I haven't met anyone friendly before."

"Are you an Outsider?" Swara's mother asked suddenly, quickly glancing at her mate with concern before looking at Sora once more.

His face beamed with genuine confusion. "Outsider?"

"From the Outlands," Swara said, confused that Sora didn't know what an Outsider was.

"Where are the Outlands?" asked Sora, feeling very in the dark.

"If you don't know then you aren't an Outsider," Swara's father said. He looked up and saw that the elephants were just now arriving, but he sniffed the air and snorted slightly with disgust.

"We should get back to the herd," he said, starting to lead them away. "It was nice to meet you, Sora." He bent his head down in respect.

"Pleasure was all mine," Sora said, dipping his head slightly in a parting gesture in return. The gazelle smiled a bit and his pace started to quicken. Swara turned around for a second.

"I'll see you around Sora," she said. Sora laughed and jerked his head for her to follow her father.

"See you around Swara," he replied. Swara bounded away and Sora's stomach gave a loud rumble.

"Shut up you," he said. "I'm _not_ eating her!" He snorted to himself as he drank a little bit more water. He was giving a morality lesson to his stomach.

The water in front of him frothed and Sora looked up again as a shadow blacked out his sight, suddenly afraid. The elephants were running into the middle and straight through the water hole! A surge of adrenaline was released into Sora's bloodstream and he bolted back to stand beside the tree where Rafiki was standing in. He panted heavily, not because of exertion, but because of the sudden heightened level of alertness he was at. His blood was pounding furiously through his body, and all of his senses were sharpened like the fine edge of a knife.

This included his sense of smell.

Sora gagged as Jiminy hopped back into his mane of spiked hair. Now he knew why the gazelles left, and it wasn't because of the elephants. There was only one creature he knew of that could smell like that, and he had learned to stay downwind of him.

Pumbaa.

And where there was Pumbaa, Timon the meerkat was never far away. Soon enough, while the elephants were drinking and bathing, taking up the entire water hole and speaking in gossiping voices loud enough to drown out most conversation, Sora saw the meerkat's head and upper torso poking out from the top of the grass, apparently that tall when really he was standing on Pumbaa's upper neck.

"Aw nuts!" he said, seeing the elephants at the water hole. "See, I told you we should have left earlier. Now we're never going to get a chance to drink."

"Well it's not my fault," Pumbaa said, his voice drifting out of the grasses. "After all, Simba did want us to wait for Kiara."

"Oh so your blaming it on me," the voice of the young lioness Sora had only heard once before rang out. Apparently she was travelling with them. "But you never did say that we should have left Pride Rock earlier Timon."

"Okay sure, get technical with me," Timon said. "But just look at that line! The water's going to be all gone by the time they're done!"

"If you had gotten here just a little faster," Rafiki said from his tree, chuckling, "you would have beaten the herd."

"Look!" Timon said, glancing at Rafiki, "even the _monkey_ made it before us." Pumbaa emerged from the grass beside the tree and stopped, seeing Sora. A wide smile broke onto his face and he chuckled a bit to himself. Timon was too preoccupied as he jumped off of Pumbaa and made a few angry strides towards the elephants.

"Just look at 'em," he complained, glaring at the elephants. "Oversized tree-eating bullies. You big gray water hole hogging lumps of rock! Why Pumbaa, I oughta give them a piece of my mind."

"Uh Timon," Pumbaa said, raising a hoof as Kiara came out of the grass now. She spotted Sora and smiled widely. Sora bowed politely before the princess of Pride Rock and Kiara bowed too, as was custom. She was about to cry out when Sora quietly shushed her. She still couldn't resist a tiny giggle though.

"Not now Pumbaa," Timon said, waving him off, "I'm on a roll here." The meerkat ran his hands up the sides of his arms, as if trying to push up sleeves, and began to stride towards the waterhole with an angry demeanor. As he passed by Sora, the lion cub casually placed his paw on the meerkat's short tail. Timon kept walking, or trying to walk, for several paces before he noticed that he wasn't going anywhere. Timon then did what any logical person would do, he began to run. Sora gave the meerkat two seconds before lifting his paw off of Timon's tail, sending the critter into a tumbling somersault on the dirt.

"Now who did that?" Timon asked, standing up and dusting himself off in an agitated manner. He looked up at the base of the tree when he heard the sounds of Pumbaa and Kiara, and a third voice, laughing.

"Hiya Timon," Sora said, raising a paw in greeting.

"Hey Sora!" Timon said, all agitation forgotten as he now walked quickly up to the lion cub. "How you been buddy?"

"I've been, well, not-not really good, I guess. But, okay. I've been okay," he finished lamely.

"Okay's one way to put it kid," Timon said critically, suddenly spying Sora's leg. "You're leg's been turned to rock. Say, who's that handsome meerkat you've got stuck on it?" Timon was now almost against the paw of Sora's automail leg, admiring his reflection in the shiny metal.

"Hm? He's regal, charming, and has a certain flare that the ladies go gaga over," Timon said to himself, checking up his appearance in the metal. "Who can it be? Yes, why it can only be Timon! The greatest meerkat of them all!" He quickly looked Sora square in the eyes.

"Sora, I take it back, you're more than okay." Sora couldn't help but laugh.

"How'd it happen?" Pumbaa asked.

"Long story," Sora answered. "I don't really want to talk about it."

Timon said, "Good, we don't want to hear about it, Hakuna Matata!"

Kiara rolled her eyes. "Oh brother, not _that_ again." Sora raised an eyebrow quizzically as Kiara sighed, looking at the elephants that were still using the entire water hole.

"What's eating her?" Sora asked.

"Nothing, she's at the top of the food chain," Timon answered before laughing loudly at his own joke. "The _food chain_! Get it!?" He nudged Sora in Sora's automail leg, only hurting his elbow a little rather than making Sora laugh. "Eesh, tough crowd," he said, rubbing his elbow and staring at the leg, "literally."

"She doesn't seem to understand Hakuna Matata," Pumbaa explained. "No matter what we try, Princess Kiara doesn't get it."

"But," Sora began. _"It means no worries,"_

Timon and Pumbaa were very quick to join in. _"For the rest of your days._

___It's our problem-free;  
Philosophy!  
Hakuna Matata!"_

The three of them finished on a drawn-out low note, and Kiara simply shook her head at the three. All three scrunched up their foreheads in indignation at her indifference towards them.

"I had been thinking about a new song, to try and help Kiara understand" Timon explained, seeing Sora aghast at the notion of a _new_ song. "Something like, ah…

_Throw your cares away__;  
Worries are for another day.  
Come on now and say;__  
Hakuna Matata!"_

Timon stopped and stared at Sora in what could only be described as confused ire as the black-furred lion cub began rolling on the ground, laughing until his sides hurt. Timon's song wasn't funny, as the meerkat seemed to get the impression that Sora thought it was, it was simply a matter that only Sora understood.

"What gives?" Timon asked as Sora stopped.

"It's just the song," Sora said, still weak from laughing. "It's just horribly reminiscent of something I used to love so much."

"What would that be?" Pumbaa asked. Sora suppressed a giggle and started humming a beat to himself, swaying in time with it while his grin made him look like the Cheshire Cat.

_"Dance your cares away;  
Worry's for another day.  
Let the music play;  
Down in Fraggle Rock!"_

Sora quickly clapped twice with his front paws at the end of the first and third lines, but when he was finished he could barely contain his giddiness as his thoughts flew to Fraggle Rock with Uncle Travelling Mat and Gobo and Wembley and Red and the other Fraggles and Doc with his dog Sprocket.

"Oh, those were good times," he said wistfully, remembering one of the greatest children's shows of all time. He quietly added a line he always remembered the Gorg Junior saying in the opening titles to himself. _Look Ma! I caught a Fraggle!_

Timon shook his head sympathetically at Sora, believing that the poor kid had completely lost his mind as the lion cub shook with silent laughter. "Okay, maybe the song's not a good idea," he mused, placing a hand to his chin in thought.

"I have an idea Timon," Pumbaa said. "What if we showed Kiara how Hakuna Matata works?"

Timon shook his head at Pumbaa. "No old buddy that will never work. What we need is something new, some fresh way of looking at Hakuna Matata." He snapped his fingers suddenly. "Aha! I've got it!"

"Got what?" Pumbaa asked, nudging Sora with his snout as the lion cub finally got his shaking under control.

"What if we showed Kiara how Hakuna Matata worked?" Timon asked openly. Sora and Pumbaa looked at each other and shrugged. "Don't give me those looks, it's a great idea! Come on and follow me. We can come back when these buzzard perches are finished." Sora and Pumbaa shared another look with each other before following Timon in the meerkat's purposeful stride.

"Come on Kiara," Pumbaa said, attracting the young princess' attention. "Your Uncles Sora, Timon, and Pumbaa have something to show you." Kiara's face, which had been sullen and bored as she stared at the drinking and bathing elephants brightened up immensely.

"Really?" she asked, quickly following them.

"What exactly are you guys doing with Kiara anyway?" Sora whispered to Pumbaa.

"Babysitting!" Timon cried out from in front, somehow hearing Sora's question. Sora needed only to look at Kiara, prancing up and down on all fours in a zigzag pattern while she followed them to understand.

Within minutes, Sora got tired of her incessant questions of 'What's the surprise?' or 'Are we there yet?'

_If Kairi and I _ever_ have kids_, Sora thought in frustration another few minutes later, _they'd better not annoy me like this or I might just snap…_

"I'm hungry," he moaned loudly, if for nothing more than to try and get Kiara's attention off of wherever it was Timon was taking them.

Timon stopped abruptly and turned around, wringing his little hands into fists and beating the side of his head. "Enough already! I'm tired of all your complaints! Gee, you guys whine louder than a howler monkey!" Sora stopped and blinked, hurt. He'd only had one complaint. Before he could voice his resentment at the meerkat however, Timon spotted a rotting log in the grass and quickly hurried over to it.

"Kiara," he announced loudly, standing by the log, "we are going to teach you the true meaning of 'Hakuna Matata'. Right here, right now."

Kiara rolled her eyes. "I don't know Timon, can't we do something else?"

"No," Timon said simply. "You need a lesson in 'No Worries', and your Uncle Sora here, is going to teach you."

Sora reacted to Timon's statement with surprise. "Me? Why me?"

"Well I suppose it could be Pumbaa," Timon said, rolling his hand, "but you're the hungry one here and we don't want Kiara passing out after her lesson."

"Um, okay," said Sora as he walked towards Timon, passing by the slightly smaller cub that was Kiara as she watched him intensely.

"Pumbaa," Timon queued, snapping his fingers.

"Right Timon," Pumbaa said happily, coming forward to stand in front of the log. With a heave of his tusks, Pumbaa rolled the log over, revealing a wide array of bugs. Sora cringed as he looked at them. Did Timon expect him to _eat_ them?

"Now Kiara, allow your Uncle Sora here to demonstrate the meaning of Hakuna Matata," said Timon, nudging Sora in his side. "Go on, go for the little cream filled kind. They're good."

"Ew, gross!" Kiara said, holding a paw over her mouth and leaning back in disgust.

Sora looked at the group of swarming beetles, bugs, and various insects, clueless. "Uh, which one would the little cream filled kind?"

"This one," Timon said, deftly picking up one of the bugs and presenting it before Sora. He took it between two of the toes of his right paw, examining it.

"I must say that I find this very uncomfortable Sora," Jiminy whispered from within Sora's mane, making his best effort to watch without puking in his host's hair.

"Well I'm not going to eat you," Sora whispered back, "so don't make too much of a fuss and don't tell anyone that I ate bugs while I was here." Sora gulped, taking an unfortunately long look at the bug in his paw. Timon, Pumbaa, Kiara, and a hidden and unknown Jiminy watched closely as Sora held it up to his mouth.

"Hakuna Matata," he said quickly before dropping the bug into his mouth and biting down. It was a very peculiar experience for him to feel something moving across his tongue. But despite his innermost belief that what he was eating would taste awful, Sora found it quite palatable.

More than palatable, his stomach said, it tasted good. It was food, and the cream in it made the experience with a certain flavour that Sora was never aware of before.

Before he knew it, Sora found himself with an empty mouth and his tongue rolling over each and every one of his teeth, trying to find every last morsel of the bug.

"No worries about that one," declared Sora, licking his paw.

"Onto the next one," said Timon, heartened by the success Sora had. "Pumbaa, give him one like the first one Simba had back when he was just a little guy." The warthog scooped one up on his snout and tossed it to Sora, who caught it with his automail paw and instantly slurped it into his mouth as his stomach commanded him to eat. His tongue delighted in the feel of its numerous legs running down its length as he let the bug slip down his throat and into his stomach.

Sora smiled and plopped down on all fours, like he was readying to pounce on someone or begin a chase. He dimly registered in his mind that the pose he was using was akin to something like an excited dog. "Toss me another one," he said. "I'm starved."

"Here you go," Timon said firing one off from his hands. Sora leapt and caught it in his mouth, already beginning to break his teeth through the exoskeleton of the bug. He swallowed it within seconds. Pumbaa kicked one into the air and Sora ran to where it would fall, opening his mouth to let it slide down.

Very quickly a game began between Timon and Pumbaa to see who could fling the most bugs into Sora's mouth before missing one. The young kitty of a keyblade master was quick to notice that the ones Timon sent were crunchy, while Pumbaa let the slimy ones fly. Kiara was having fun too, laughing in something like disgust as bug after bug flew towards Sora.

Sora eyed her, rolling on the ground and laughing with her mouth wide open. He jerked his head in her direction at Pumbaa. The warthog nodded, and landed his next bug into Kiara's upturned mouth with a slick plop. She stopped and felt her throat, having swallowed without realizing.

"Did I just eat a bug?" she asked aloud even though she knew the answer.

"Yep," answered Sora.

"Ew," she moaned, trying her best to express her discomfort.

"But how was it Kiara?" Pumbaa asked knowingly. If she was anything like her father, Sora knew, then she would have liked it too.

"It was gross," Kiara said, looking away from them. Sora knew she was hooked. "It was, it was-"

"Slimy, yet satisfying?" Sora supplied. Kiara nodded her head. The next thing she knew, there was another bug spiralling out of Pumbaa's hoof towards her. Sora moved for the intercept, but Kiara beat him to it with a quick _chomp_.

After that, Kiara joined in, and Timon and Pumbaa quickly tallied the number of hits and misses they'd scored with Sora to find out how many bugs he'd eaten, minus the two from the start. The number came out to thirteen, with Pumbaa winning by one more consecutive hit than Timon. Then they switched the rules. Instead of simply counting who could fling the greater number of bugs into Sora's eagerly waiting mouth to feed his insatiable stomach, they would instead count which of the two lion cubs could catch the more bugs.

The throws started off easy, tossing Kiara enough to make her count equal to Sora's, and then they became increasingly more difficult. Both often found themselves running and leaping into the air to catch a bug, landing on the back and sliding a few feet through the grass before prancing back to tell the other that they got it.

The one log quickly emptied of bugs as the Sun continued to rise in the sky, and when it was empty, so too was Sora's stomach saturated. Timon and Pumbaa tallied up the scores again, and Kiara lost to Sora by six bugs with a paltry sum of twenty-seven.

Kiara drew her face into an angry pout that she had lost, but it didn't last beyond Sora's laugh at how amusing it looked.

"I'm going to play for a little while," she said, spotting a flying butterfly. "I'll see you guys later." She started pouncing after the butterfly, but Timon on Pumbaa quickly cut her off.

"Now young lady," Timon said sternly. "We can't keep you safe if you start wondering off on your own."

"I'm very glad that that's over," Jiminy whispered to Sora, poking his head out of the hair he was hiding in so that he could give Sora some eye contact. Sora smiled a bit. Jiminy was looking rather green.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'm still never going to eat you." Jiminy nodded in thanks and quickly vanished into the forest of spikes again.

"Maybe sometimes I want to be by myself," Kiara said haughtily, sticking her nose up at the two of them.

"Kiara…" Sora spoke slowly, coming to her side. He suddenly realized just how much bigger he was than her. "You're just a new cub. I'm sure your father wouldn't like it much if you were off playing by yourself."

Kiara sighed and looked down. "He says he trusts me," she said. "But then he keeps having these two watching me like hawks."

"I'm sure Simba has his reasons," Sora said sympathetically. "I know that I wouldn't want anything to happen to my kids if Kairi and I had them." Kiara looked up at him in surprise.

"But you and Kairi are still cubs too!" she said, eyeing the butterfly.

If lions could blush, Sora was. "Never mind," he said, watching Kiara pounce after the butterfly once more. It seemed that she'd forgotten that her mother had told her that he was fifteen.

"I've got a great idea," Timon said suddenly. "Why don't we play, 'Go back to Pride Rock before we lose Simba's daughter and he eats the warthog for lunch'?"

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Sora agreed. "But…" he eyed the adventurous spirit of Kiara, "why don't we take a roundabout route to get there? Hey where's Rafiki?"

"Oh, he left while we were still by the water hole," Pumbaa said. "Why? Did you need him for something Sora?"

"No it's fine," Sora answered. "Just wondering where he was is all."

"Well then let's get this show on the road," Timon said in mock excitement. "Come on Pumbaa, we've got places to go and things to see. How's about we give Sora a tour eh? I don't think he's seen the Pride Lands like this before."

"No I haven't," Sora said, giving a bit of a laugh. "I couldn't find my way anywhere last night, it's changed so much."

"Well for a start," Timon began, now speaking like a tour guide, "we have Pride Rock, home of the lions, Pumbaa, and myself, which you can see from just about anywhere in the Pride Lands." Sora gave the golden brown coloured stone, jutting out majestically over the lands in the Sun's bright light, a fond look. It warmed his heart to see it standing there, the memory of Simba roaring at its tip to declare himself King of Pride Rock still a favourite memory of his. He could still recall the battle Donald, Goofy, Simba, and himself had fought atop the very peak of Pride Rock against Scar, the former King's defeat at Simba's paws causing him to fall into darkness and become a heartless. At which point he became their foe as well, and together they had defeated him, making the rightful King, Simba able to take the throne.

But Sora could still remember the battle they had later fought against a massive heartless built by hundreds of ghosts of Scar right on these plains where the grass now grew so green. The bones of the very earth had shaken when each of its massive paws fell onto the ground. Sora shook away the memory. Those battles were over and done with. The Pride Lands were at peace. He dearly hoped that his last fight in the Pride Lands had ended when he and Kairi had been suddenly captured by Cossex and Nixion, not even three weeks ago.

Timon and Pumbaa gave Sora a guided tour around the vast savannah, showing him the best points of interest, such as where the best bugs could be found, or where the water was freshest or nicest to bathe in (in which they all did because it was getting rather hot and they had worked up a sweat from the bug-flinging/eating competition), or where the monkeys chattered so incessantly that Timon and Pumbaa made a habit of going through every day just to ram one of them for being so noisy. They also went past some of the not so wondrous places, like a dried-up creek-bed, on their way to the better ones.

Such was the way that they passed the morning. The tour was put on hold several times as Kiara managed to slip off quietly, but always the three friends were able to quickly locate the truant lioness and bring her in line. When the Sun was high in the sky just after its zenith, they returned to the water hole to find the elephants gone and some more of the animals returned, while others that had not been present at all were now in attendance.

"Finally some water," Timon said, leaping off of Pumbaa and running into the shallows. He plopped down on his stomach and instantly began drinking the water that foamed around his mouth. Pumbaa followed after him, his aroma no longer lacking a certain appeal ever since he washed in a stream. Animals noticing Kiara bowed low as she passed, which surprised Sora that it didn't perturb her at all. Maybe there was a difference between being born and raised royalty rather than being born royalty and not finding out until you're fourteen.

The two lion cubs came up to where Timon was now swimming with a backstroke and began to drink, thirsty from the morning's activities.

Water splashed up onto Sora's face, and he quickly searched for the culprit: four small hooves. He smiled and drew his face up to see the gazelle that did it.

"Afternoon Swara," he said in greeting. Swara inclined her head towards him and bowed lower to Kiara, who had looked up when Sora did. Sora caught sight of Swara's father watching in the background and dipped his head in respect to the young female gazelle in front of him.

"Good afternoon Sora," Swara said, sidling next to him and bending her head down to drink some water. "How was your morning?"

"Fulfilling," Sora answered. He detected a gleam of curiosity in Swara's black eyes, the accents of black fur around them giving them a sight that Sora found rather interesting.

"How so?" Swara asked.

"My stomach's full," Sora answered.

"Really? I hope it wasn't somebody I know." Sora marvelled that the only tone evident in her voice wasn't one of resentment or indignation that he would have expected, but simple curiosity. He supposed that the young gazelle understood the circle of life very well.

He shook his head. "No, they were bugs." Swara pulled her face back a bit and snorted at him in amusement.

"_Bugs_?" she asked. "Why would you be eating bugs?"

"Because Timon and Pumbaa are my friends and I was with them and Kiara this morning," Sora explained. "What about you?"

"I played with some of the other young gazelles, grazed with my mother, and practiced avoiding carnivores," Swara answered. "Staying hidden in the grass for ages can make a girl thirsty."

"I probably should have practiced pouncing," Kiara whined. "But this guy wouldn't let me go off on my own." Sora shoved Kiara back when she pushed him, and she fell into the water, rolling into Pumbaa. His thin legs suddenly became wobbly, and the warthog fell onto the little lioness.

Sora and Swara were laughing a bit when they heard a roar coming from the direction of Pride Rock. The two turned to look and saw the pride of lions descending to the water hole to drink. Simba was prominently in front, his thick red mane easily identifiable amongst the females and little cubs of the pride. Nala was beside him, smiling as widely as Simba was. Animals on the sides on their path bowed in front of the Lion King, and Simba began to walk right on past.

Sora acted without thinking, calling, "Hey Simba!" Swara looked at him in amazement. He'd just called the King by his name, and without showing any sign of reverence.

Simba, however, recognized the voice, and his eyes quickly found Sora. "Sora!" His smile widening, the King of Pride Rock raced down to the edge of the water hole to greet Sora as if he was his own cub, Nala right beside him.

"How you doing buddy?" Simba asked, butting heads with Sora. Before Sora could answer, he spotted Timon. "Timon, have you seen Kiara?"

The water underneath Pumbaa bubbled, and Pumbaa quickly stood up, realizing that there was something underneath him. Kiara bolted out and ran behind the closest of her mother's legs, looking very much like a wet cat.

"Ah, gee, the good news is Simba," Timon began, "we found your daughter. The bad news is we dropped the warthog on her. Is there going to be a problem with that?" Neither Sora nor Simba could abstain from their laughter.

"Anyway," Simba said again. "What are you doing here? A nice visit?"

"Hardly," Sora said, looking down. "Simba, Donald and Goofy and King Mickey, I've told you about him haven't I?" When Simba nodded slightly Sora continued, "they dropped me off here in the Pride Lands."

"Why?" Simba asked, confused.

Swara started inching away from Sora, feeling more than a little uncomfortable in the presence of a king. But not just any king, _her_ king. Simba's gaze quickly left Sora for the small gazelle.

"Sora," he said, leaning down to whisper in the young lion's ear, "why is a gazelle standing there?"

"Oh," Sora said. "Simba, this is my friend Swara," Simba quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Oh really?" Simba asked.

"Yeah," said Timon unexpectedly. "She's a great gal. Hops about with her folks, grazes the good grass, and doesn't hold a qualm to Sora eating bugs instead of antelope." Simba grinned and looked at Sora in bemusement.

"You were eating bugs?" he enquired. Sora nodded and turned around to drink some more water. It was then that the Sun reflected off of Sora's automail and Simba finally noticed it.

"What happened to your leg?" asked Simba.

Sora stiffened uncomfortably. "It's a long story. I don't really want to talk about it right now."

Swara saw his discomfort and felt that her presence, as a very new friend to Sora's compared to the friendship she felt he had to the King of Pride Rock, was a tad detrimental to him. She sensed that there were some things he would like to discuss with the king, but would be unable to say them with her there.

Feeling that her course of action was right, Swara nudged Sora with her head. Sora looked up at her in surprise. "I'll see you later, okay Sora?"

"Yeah," Sora said, nodding appreciatively. "See you later Swara." The corners of her mouth twitched upwards in a comforting smile, and she bounded away, water splashing up onto her legs until she reached dry ground.

"Would you like to speak more in private at Pride Rock?" Simba asked. Sora nodded but didn't say any words. Simba inclined his head and dropped the subject, moving to start drinking.

Nala came up next to her mate and began lapping up some of the liquid within the water hole. "Sora," she asked, pausing for a second, "where are Donald and Goofy, or Roxas and Kairi and Max?" Sora stiffened again, but Nala didn't see it.

"Later," Simba told her, his being in the way the reason why the Queen of Pride Rock was unable to see her young friend's discomfort. The pride of lions continued to drink alongside the other animals, a few leopards and cheetahs even drinking too. There was an unspoken pact amongst all animals at waterholes. They were there for water, not food. None would die at the claws of one of the great cats in these places.

"You know Sora," Timon began, looking critically at him while doing a backstroke in front of both the lion cub and the lion king, "since you've started eating bugs, I think you may become quite the rival to Simba."

"Huh?" Sora asked, confused by the meerkat's statement. Timon stood up in the water and pointed a finger accusingly at Simba.

"Your days as the bug belching, slug swallowing, cricket crunching, grub gulping, maggot munching, _and_ snail slurping champion are numbered pal," he said. "Once Sora's as big as you were when you claimed that crown over me, you're going down." Simba laughed.

"Need I remind you Timon," he said, giving him a humourous leer. "You may have invented Hakuna Matata, but _I perfected it_."

Sora laughed nervously beside them. It seemed that there was a long-standing rivalry between Simba and Timon in the subject of bug-eating, and he had just managed to wind up becoming Timon's chance for redemption. The thought of each of those contests made the hair on the back of his neck prickle. Sure, the bugs were tasty, but the prospect of cricket crunching (reminding himself that Jiminy was still on his head and had likely heard every word), slug swallowing, and snail slurping sent shivers down his spine.

Jiminy poked his head out of Sora's hair and lightly knocked the top of Sora's head to attract his attention. He was looking rather green again, holding his top hat in his hands while hunched over. "I hope you don't partake in the cricket crunching one Sora," he said weakly. "Just the sound of it does not agree with me."

"Hey who said that?" Timon asked, hearing Jiminy. The cricket had not been careful enough in concealing his voice. Timon's eyes caught sight of Jiminy Cricket before he could vanish into Sora's hair once more. "Hey Sora, you've got a bug on your head. Let me just, get, that, for, you." With each word he tried to say, the meerkat made a lunge for Jiminy, only to be foiled each time by a deke on Sora's part.

"Timon wait," Sora said. "The cricket on my head is a friend."

"A friend?" Timon asked. "Ho-ho! Now I've heard everything." Sora held up his damp right forepaw.

"Jiminy?" he asked, twitching his head. Jiminy waited a second before hopping down onto the paw Sora offered him.

"Cricket's the name," Jiminy said, taking off his top hat and bowing slightly towards Simba. "Jiminy Cricket at your service."

"He's been travelling with me, Donald, and Goofy ever since we started," Sora said as Simba knelt his head down in amazement at seeing the cricket in the top hat and tailcoat he wore. "So he was here in the Pride Lands when we first saw you in the Oasis Simba, and again when we fought against the heartless made of Scar's ghosts."

"And you never came out to talk to us?" Timon asked, butting in Simba's way to become the closest to Jiminy.

"I didn't need to," Jiminy explained. "I've been with them to chronicle their adventures in my journal." He pulled out his book and showed Timon the cover.

"Jiminy I don't think they can read," Sora said. "The whole story would just look like meaningless scribbles to them."

"You mean like your handwriting?" Jiminy asked, stowing the book away and bounding back into Sora's hair.

"That was uncalled for," Sora said, his pride stung by Jiminy's comment.

"Well how do you expect to be able to decipher any of it?" Jiminy asked. "You have a worse chicken-scratch than any doctor I know of."

"I can read it just fine," Sora answered, leaving the water hole so that he could continue his conversation with Jiminy without the strange looks some of the other animals were giving him, partially to do with his metal leg.

"But can your teachers read it?" Jiminy asked when they were in the clear, hopping out again.

"Jiminy!" Sora complained. "I'm not in school anymore! That's why I'm out here."

"Well Sora I thought you were out here to get the keyblade back so that you could save the worlds from Maleficent," said Jiminy, "not to ditch school."

"But my school's gone," argued Sora. "I can't go back to school if there is no school to go back to."

"Hasn't stopped your friends," Jiminy said, shrugging. "They're attending in Twilight Town."

"Kairi, Roxas, Naminé, and Riku aren't," Sora retorted.

"They can still summon their keyblades," Jiminy calmly replied. Sora dropped his head in defeat at the simple logic the cricket was presenting himself with.

"Now I know how Kairi felt all last year," he said gloomily. "I feel so useless."

"Don't say things like that Sora," Jiminy said quickly. "You are not worthless."

Sora wouldn't allow Jiminy's words to comfort him. "Even Kairi was more useful when we left her in Traverse Town," Sora muttered. "She still wanted to come with us, despite everything I said and the fear I know was in her heart." He shook his head. "I don't even dare think to go with them."

_It's because you truly are worthless._

Sora's eyes slowly became hard and he glowered at the ground from underneath his hair.

_Why would any of them want __**you**__? Why would any of your so-called friends help you? They believe you've taken centre stage too often. It's all a plot to get you out of the way while they take all of the fame and glory!_

"Shut up," Sora growled in a low voice. "I never wanted the fame or glory. It just came."

_Why would you think that your dear Kairi ever wanted you? What do you think she does when you aren't there?_

"Don't talk about Kairi that way you monster," Sora murmured, his voice increasing in agitation.

"I wasn't talking about Kairi," Jiminy said quietly, confused. Anti-form laughed wickedly.

_She __**wanted**__ to be arrested Sora. She wanted to be put into the dungeons! You know why? No pestering boyfriends preventing her from doing what she pleases._

Sora felt his heart ripple and boil in anger when a scandalous manufactured image of Kairi was forcibly presented into his mind.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Sora screamed, the vision like a knife to his heart as it heaved in anger and agony.

The water hole went deathly quiet as everyone stared at the lion cub in varied degrees of anxiety or annoyance. The birds had taken flight, screaming their distress at him with voices that shrilly broke the silence. But Sora wasn't paying attention to any of them, not even to the disturbed Jiminy Cricket in from of him. Only the evil voice that was speaking in his head had his attention.

_Do you honestly believe she loves you?_ Anti taunted. _You are nothing! You are a worthless, meaningless speck in the grand scheme of things. Your Kairi can have any man she wants, and she only pretends to love you so you that you won't kill yourself in grief._

"You don't know her," Sora growled, placing his paws on his head and lying flat on the ground.

"What's eating him?" Pumbaa asked Timon quietly. Timon didn't answer.

_Your friends only brought you here to abandon you. They don't want you, they don't love you. You are worthless to them. They brought you here so you could spend the rest of your meaningless life in a meagre existence you don't deserve._

"My friends would never do that," Sora whispered. "They would never desert me like that."

_The keyblade has abandoned you. Even __**it**__ no longer wants to have someone as hopeless as you wielding it._

"Sora?"

Sora jerked his head up and looked around frantically for the source of the voice, realizing that Anti had stopped speaking to him. Simba was standing next to him, watching him with a worried look in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Simba asked. Sora tried to answer, but all that came out were a jumbled mash of answers that would be impossible to decipher. The picture that he did manage to get across to Simba however, was that he was in some kind of distress.

"Come on," said Simba, nodding sympathetically. "Let's go to Pride Rock and you can tell me all about it." Sora nodded blearily. They were wet with confused and scared tears. His breath came in haggard and rough, and sweat was filtering its way through his ashen coat.

Simba and he walked through the savannah almost alone, with a very silent and confused Jiminy once more sitting upon Sora's head within his hair. Sora's mind was focused too far inward, he didn't sense that Nala, Kiara, Timon, or Pumbaa were following. His thoughts were dark and grim, considering every last thing that Anti had said, trying very hard to dismiss all of it as meaningless taunting insults to anger and dishearten him. But the image Anti had manufactured of Kairi still burned in his memory. He did not like it one bit and found it entirely fake, but found himself despairing all the same.

What _did_ Kairi do when he wasn't around?

Sora shook his head and trudged along beside Simba. He knew what Anti had been trying to do, but it hurt to know that, if even for a brief moment, it had worked. All it had taken Sora was one look at Simba standing next to him to remind him that his friends would always be there to help him should he ask for it.

When they reached Pride Rock, Simba led Sora up towards the base of the promontory before taking him into the lions' den within the spire of the big rock. Sora's ears finally registered the fall of Pumbaa's hooves behind him and the soft padding of Nala and Kiara. His metal paw however, clanged every time it fell onto the hard stone, painfully reminding Sora of what it was and creating a noise that was very out of place for the Pride Lands.

Nala paused as she entered, looking down at her young cub. "Kiara, why don't you go out and play with the other cubs? It's going to be really boring here for a while."

"Oh okay," Kiara moaned. Nala nudged her a bit with her head and Kiara left, smiling.

Simba nodded his head towards a large rock that he evidently slept on with Nala and Kiara beside him. Sora hopped up onto it, the two other lions following him while Timon and Pumbaa sat down near the rock's base. Nala's warm body against his own felt very comforting, especially after the things Anti had said in his mind.

"Now Sora," Simba said after a few seconds, "why is it exactly that you're in the Pride Lands again?"

Sora shook his head. "Training," he replied.

"With who?" Pumbaa asked.

"Myself apparently," answered Sora.

"Well that makes complete sense," said Timon.

"Simba," Sora said hesitantly, "I can't fight anymore."

"What do you mean you can't-?"

"I can't summon the keyblade."

Nothing could have prepared the King and Queen of Pride Rock for that statement

Simba looked at Sora in surprise. "You what?" Sora laid his head flat on the rock and refused to look at Simba.

"It won't come," he answered. "King Mickey said I've stopped listening. Everyone says I've stopped listening. But if I have, I don't remember how."

"And you're here to remember how to listen to what your heart is telling you so can go back out into the worlds, and fight evil heartless and villains," Pumbaa said, "right?"

Sora peered his head over Simba's body to look queerly at the warthog. _How was it Pumbaa who could figure that out?_

"Yes," Sora said unsteadily.

"Then where's everybody else?" Nala asked. "Where are Donald and Goofy? Or Kairi? I would have thought that the three of them would be able to help you out a lot more than we could."

Sora froze for a second before answering Nala. "Donald and Goofy brought me here with King Mickey, and then they left to help Kairi. Right after we'd left, she was taken into custody because some blockheads are calling her a traitor for calling our enemy to her so that she could give herself in in an attempt to save all of us."

"She gave up?" Simba asked.

"Something like that," replied Sora. He felt he didn't need to go into too much detail about just what Kairi had been doing, since he still wasn't one hundred percent sure of her motives either. "But Maleficent wouldn't take her surrender, and tried to kill her instead. We were able to stop her in time, but Kairi had taken a beating."

"Must have been pretty hard on you Sora," Nala said sympathetically. Sora gulped.

"It was," he said. "She was taking the beating of her life, and I couldn't do anything to stop it from happening."

"No worries Sora," Timon said. "She's fine now right?"

"Well, yeah," Sora said uncertainly.

"Then Hakuna Matata," Timon repeated.

"I'm not sure Hakuna Matata will be enough this time guys," said Sora dismally. "Maleficent's become too strong for me to take on. And I can't fight against her anymore anyway." Sora sighed. "Ever since I lost my mom, everything's gone wrong for me. I lost the keyblade, I-" Sora stopped as he suddenly felt a leg enveloping him tenderly.

"Oh Sora," Nala said quietly. "Everyone's still expecting you to be the hero and save the worlds, but you're only one person, and so young too."

Sora hushed and tried to keep his composure, but his grief came out in an overwhelming wave. He didn't know what came over him, but the next thing he knew his eyes were wetter and redder then they'd ever been before. Nala's leg was wrapped over him like he was her own cub, and the simple motherly gesture was too much for Sora's heart to handle.

He shook as everything he had been feeling washed out of him. It was embarrassing to him that he could lose control like this in front of his friends, but for the moment, he didn't care.

He'd tried his hardest at keeping up a brave face ever since squaring off against Maleficent with Kairi and their digimon. But, everything that happened after the sudden inexplicable dream the two of them had shared had slowly worked towards chipping away at him, and Sora'd kept his feelings about those events bottled up inside of him, only to be briefly released and then corked again before he could let more than a tithe escape from him.

It was not so now. Now, Anti's troubling voice and the pain of the surgery were the last taps of a sharp pick into that glass bottle his emotions had been restrained into, and Nala's soft paw had removed the wad of gum that was all the little things that kept them from flowing out.

Time didn't matter to Sora as he let everything flow out of his system, but at some point he figured he must have fallen asleep, for when he was next looking towards the cave entrance he found that it was evening and that Simba, Timon and Pumbaa were gone, probably at Nala's urging.

"Feel better?" Nala asked him. Sora marvelled that she was still there with her warm body around him and paw overtop. He had no clue how long she had patiently waited for him to finish.

Now Sora did feel embarrassed, but it couldn't stop his elation. He felt freer than he thought it possible to feel, like a great weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

"Yeah," he had the courage to say, "I think I'm mostly fine now Nala."

"Mostly?" she asked humourously.

"Yeah," Sora said. "Still one or two questions bobbing around up there."

"Try me," answered Nala, smiling.

"If I want to get the keyblade back," Sora continued, "where do I start?"

Nala shook her head. "I wouldn't be the one to know the answer to that question Sora. But, if you want my advice, I think it's something you need to figure out on your own. Look into yourself if anything, and if you really need help, try Rafiki." Sora nodded and left Nala's embrace, plopping down from the rock he had been on for who knew how many hours.

"I can't stay here tonight," Sora said at length, looking out to the savannah. He glanced back at Nala, and she nodded acceptingly.

"I'll let Simba know," she said. "Good luck out there Sora, and don't be afraid to ask your friends for help."

Sora bounded out of the cave entrance, the sounds of his metal leg still ringing in Nala's ears with a degree of unfamiliarity. He never did explain what happened to make his leg like that, she realized. Dismissing it, Nala turned to climb up a tunnel that led to the outside of Pride Rock, following a path that led up to its very tip.

Standing up there she saw her mate Simba, Timon and Pumbaa, and a small blue bird with an orange hornbill. The feathers on his underside were white, and the tips of his wings and tail were black. Simba was watching his dominion under the reddish light of the setting Sun, clouds rolling in from the east and north.

Simba turned when he heard Nala's approach and smiled at her. "How's he doing?"

Nala sighed. "He should be fine," she said. "He's a tough kid, but he's been through a lot more than anyone should go through in a lifetime." Simba nodded and gazed back down at his kingdom, watching a small creature with ash-coloured fur make its way through the grasses near Pride Rock in the Sun's fading light.

"I see our guest isn't spending the night," he said. Nala shook her head.

"No," she said. "He still needs to find himself and discover who he is again."

"Sounds like someone I know," Simba said sadly, remembering what he had felt. "Zazu."

"Yes Sire?" the small hornbill asked.

"I want you, Timon, and Pumbaa to watch over Sora tomorrow," Simba said. "If you can, keep him out of trouble and have him stay away from the elephant graveyard. The hyenas are still in there. I know they haven't been giving us much trouble apart from usual hyena antics, but if Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed find out that he's here alone, they might take advantage of him."

"Don't worry Simba," Timon said. "We'll stick to him like stink on a warthog."

"Hey!"

"It's a hard truth Pumbaa, live with it."

The Sun dipped to the horizon, and Simba and the others turned to head back into the cave.

Sora was far out in the savannah that night when the clouds rumbled and rain began to pour. He was able to quickly find shelter underneath an overhanging rock by a tree, and miserably wondered why it was he'd even left Pride Rock in the first place.

Anti-form didn't bother him that night.

-A-D-

_I was planning on using the original concept design of Zazu, which they used for The Lion King Musical on Broadway, but I fell back on the standard Disney version for simplicity's sake._

_(Sighing wistfully) Does anyone here remember Fraggle Rock? Or Sesame Street back when it was Sesame __**Street**__ and not Sesame __**Apartment**__ or whatever they're calling it these days? It was GOOD back then. There was Oscar, Elmo, Bert, and the COOKIE-MONSTER!! Not some stupid Vegetable Monster, the COOKIE-MONSTER!!_

_Fraggle Rock was still the best though. Gobo, Wembley, and Red were my favourite Fraggles apart from Uncle Travelling Mat._

_Oh, and I was reading an article in my local paper the other day about how Disney, who has the rights to the Muppets, is throwing them every which way they can to bring interest in Muppets back. I love the Muppets, but if Square-Enix allows them to put Miss Piggy, Kermit, Gonzo, Rizzo, Animal, Rolf and Fozzie into KH3, I might just snap._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	18. An Outlandish Meeting

_Here's another Pride Lands chapter folks, hope you enjoy it. And you might want to say hello to someone you may have heard about in __**DarthKingdom**__'s story __**Kingdom Hearts III: The Brotherhood of Dark**__ while you're here._

_You also may or may not have realized from the last chapter, but if I can steal it from any one of the three Lion King movies, I _will _steal it from any one of the three Lion King movies. And yes, I kind of stole something from _Eragon_ too, so I don't own that either._

_BTW, a lot of you are probably going to hunt me down with torches and pitchforks after a certain point in this chapter, or will at least exclaim that you hate me._

_Disclaimer: (Picks up the charred remains of the sign, and drops a few termites onto it. Shire Folk takes a look up at the readers with remembrance.) This chapter contains mature themes with disturbing imagery. Reader discretion is advised._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter XVIII: An Outlandish Meeting

Sora shivered through his thin coat of warm fur, the cool, damp air bringing him back into a state of consciousness. He yawned widely and loudly as he slowly allowed his eyes to open. There was a misty morning fog that somewhat obscured his vision as he hid underneath his rock that had protected him from the rain of the previous night. He could see from the mist's golden colour that the Sun was up and trying its hardest to break up the mists to give the land dwelling creatures some visibility.

Sora closed his eyes and tried to get a bit more sleep, the sight of the golden mist making his entire situation a bit more surreal and dreamlike in his state of drowsiness. But no matter how hard he tried, sleep would not come to him. The damp cold in his limbs was too great for him to get comfortable enough to fall into that blissful realm again, and without blood in it to warm it, he felt that his automail was freezing!

He still marvelled that it didn't bother him that the metal was so cold, or that he could still feel warmth and touch through the metal. What was great was that he did not feel pain in that leg at all. He grimaced in irony as he realized that the one limb that felt no pain gave him pain like no other when it was being attached to him.

He yawned again and accepted defeat, coming to terms with the fact that he was cold and wet, and those two factors would prevent him from resting. Besides, he was hungry again, and he knew from past experience that it's hard to sleep on an empty stomach. So leisurely, Sora stood up, swaying slightly in an act of drowsiness simply to amuse himself, and began to walk out into the mists.

His hot breath paraded in front of him in a cloud while his nose and skin tingled from the feel of the tiny droplets of water hanging within the golden sheets he wandered through. He felt different this morning than he had last morning. Maybe it had something to do with not being woken up by the cantankerous omniscient monkey Rafiki, or maybe it was that it was September the twenty-fifth, and that in just under a month, he would be sixteen and he was already counting down the days until the twenty-fourth of October, or it could possibly be that he felt happy this morning, as if the time he had spent with Nala had removed something that had been keeping him down. Whatever the case, he felt more adventurous than he could ever remember feeling since defeating Xemnas. So adventurous in fact that he started really getting into character of being a lion, and stalked the first creature he saw, a slug, for thirty seconds (it was a slug and he got bored) before pouncing on it. He slipped the slug in between two of the toes of his metallic left paw and dropped it into his waiting mouth, letting it slide down before swallowing it.

He recoiled; the taste of the slug going down gave him more than a little feeling of disgust. But, Sora quickly figured that he would have to build up a tolerance to the taste of slugs and snails if he were going to defeat Simba and wear the crown of ultimate Hakuna Matata champion.

The mist had cleared by the time he reached the water hole he had twice been at the previous day, and he eagerly lapped away the taste of the slug slime from his mouth with great gulps of water. The elephants hadn't arrived yet, in fact he couldn't even feel the slight tremors in the earth beneath his paws yet, but the animals that were there (including more than a few Gemsbok antelope, three giraffes, four ostriches, and a water buffalo) looked strangely at him as he approached and subsequently drank. Word had apparently spread around quickly about the lion cub with dark fur and the strange leg and his peculiar outburst the previous day.

Sora didn't mind though, few things could puncture his lifted spirits right now. He even had a good classic rock song rolling through his head and was having a little difficulty drinking as he wanted to sing the words aloud to himself rather than just listening in his mind.

"So what do you plan for today Sora?" Jiminy asked, noticing over the past while that there was a spring in Sora's step that hadn't been there before today.

"I'm thinking of checking out the Pride Lands," Sora answered.

"But we just did that yesterday," Jiminy protested. "I would have thought you'd work on getting the keyblade back today."

"We were given a guided tour of highlights yesterday Jiminy," Sora reminded him. "What I feel like doing today is exploring. Man, I can't recall a time I've ever felt so… _alive_!"

"But what about the keyblade?" Jiminy asked.

"The keyblade can wait," Sora said quickly, but not in a manner that revealed if he was agitated with Jiminy. "I have all of today and tomorrow to get it back. Who knows, something might happen along the way that may help more than it would have if I wasn't exploring today."

"You certainly are determined to see all there is to see," said Jiminy. Sora smiled at him as the cricket lay concealed within his hair.

"What can I say?" Sora shrugged. "I've never been in the Pride Lands for an extended amount of time before. There's always been a fight going on and never enough time to see what there is to see! You know, I think that this is the first trip to another world we've been on where we've actually had time to just kick back and do nothing except have fun."

"What about the rest of the worlds Sora?" Jiminy asked. Sora dipped his head back down to have some more water.

"Nothing bad happening here," he pointed out. "Besides, I'm stranded so I might as well do what Rafiki said yesterday morning and make the most of my time as a lion."

"You remember as far back as yesterday morning?" Jiminy asked.

"Ha ha," Sora replied humourously. "So you do have a sense of humour after all." Jiminy laughed and poked out of Sora's hair to look down of the lion cub keyblade master's face.

"Well, if sightseeing's what we're doing today, I'm making sure to get as much of it as I can on film," he said, holding up his miniscule blue camera. Sora frowned slightly at the sight of it on the fringe of his vision.

"Please don't tell me you have pictures of yesterday on that thing," he moaned. Jiminy smiled and nodded.

"Even though it made my stomach queasy, I got shots of you and Kiara eating bugs to your hearts' content," Jiminy said proudly. "I think I even shot a video of some of it too with this thing."

"Great," Sora muttered, knowing full well what Jiminy would plan to do when they got onto the _Highwind_. Donald and Goofy would be the first ones to see kitty Sora slug swallowing.

Sora finished drinking from the water hole and strutted away from it with a smile on his face. He couldn't believe how much he felt like a little kid again, building that raft with Riku and Kairi to explore new worlds. Now though, he really was going to _explore_ a new world. Except it wasn't so new, having been here a few times before, but it was new all the same.

He was so wrapped up in his plans for the day that he never noticed a small bird constantly flying high and above him or the shadows that stalked him restlessly.

The first thing Sora recognized was that even though he had eaten a slug and drank some water, he was still hungry. And so, taking full advantage of being a lion, decided to hunt. He'd never hunted before in his life and was confident that he wouldn't force himself to kill another living animal. However, he reminded himself of the feast of bugs he'd gorged himself on the previous day, and with the promise of food sating his stomach for the moment, he set out to locate an appropriate collection of them.

The grasses swayed in the wind that blew, causing Sora to shiver only slightly as it blew through his still damp hair to reach his skin. The wind was warming, but that still didn't meant it couldn't bite. It only heightened Sora's senses and feeling of excitement, suddenly recognizing himself at the mercy of the elements like when on a hike or in his boat when it still existed. This struggle of himself against the forces of Mother Nature thrilled him and only filled him with a desire to succeed, to successfully survive until he was retrieved.

He wandered aimlessly, following his sense of smell, which he quickly figured out was not practiced enough to detect the specific scent of the prey he sought, and found himself accidentally stumbling onto a large group of grazing gazelles, who most surprisingly hadn't scattered when they heard his approach. There had to be at least a hundred of the herbivores together, and very few of them showed any inclination of discomfort or distress at him being there.

Sora strode amongst them uncomfortably. At least some of them should have run, and why did nearly all of them appear to be female? Surely the presence of a male lion cub in their midst would have panicked even one gazelle.

The grass rustled behind him and Sora turned slightly to look at it, noticing a pair of slim and straight horns above the tips of the grass. He sniffed, and quickly registered that the scent was familiar.

"Hey Sora," Swara said, emerging from the grasslands. "Funny time to run into you this morning."

Sora smiled. Of course Swara would be the one to appear to him in a herd of gazelles.

"Hey Swara," he said in greeting. "Why would it be a funny time to run into each other?"

"I was just about to join in playing with some of the other young gazelles," she said. "So when I heard you coming, I thought that you might like to join us."

"Heard me coming?" Sora asked.

"That leg of yours makes the most peculiar sound," Swara answered, pointing her horns at his metal appendage. "We were able to hear it a little while ago, so we knew that something was coming instead of sneaking up on us."

Sora nodded his head in understanding. He hadn't thought he was being loud at all. In fact he almost didn't register the sounds of his automail moving anymore (which was a surprise to him considering he'd only had it for two days now). But at least it did explain why none of the gazelles had been cantering away when he'd suddenly, actually slowly, arrived in their midst.

"Ah," he said, glancing down at the leg before looking back at Swara. "So, what game were you thinking of playing?"

Swara didn't answer him directly. Instead she raised her voice saying, "Hey everybody, Sora's going to play too if you want him too."

"Good," another young gazelle said quickly, bounding out of the grass from the midst of nowhere, making Sora jump in surprise. "A lion cub playing with a bunch of young gazelles, give us a chance to practice running away from them."

"Running away?" another one asked, nearly leaping onto Sora's tail. Sora was able to tell by its voice and the way its horns were curved with their tips forward that this one at least was male. "No way, I'd be chasing after him."

"Running away and chasing me?" Sora asked in confusion as four more gazelles hopped in, almost creating a ring around him, yet still making him part of the group in a way.

"Well yeah," two more said simultaneously as they leapt over the grass to land directly in front of Sora's nose. He sneezed as dirt flew into it and they laughed. "That's the point of the game anyway."

"What game?" Sora asked. He suddenly froze for a second.

"DAMMIT!!" he yelled, turning his head towards the sunny, uncaring sky. "I LOST THE GAME!!"

"What?" Swara asked in confusion. Sora balked at her. Had she never heard of _the game_?

"I lost the game," Sora said slowly, twitching his head inquisitively at her. "You know, _the game_."

"I don't follow," the male gazelle said.

"_The Game_," Sora answered. "Everyone is always playing the game, and the object of the game is to not think about the game. Once you think about the game, you lose, and you must yell out to the worlds 'I lost the game.' Others say that you simply must say 'I lost', but my friends and I add on the tag 'the game' at the end. The only reason for losing the game is to make as many people around you lose too so you won't feel alone in losing. Oh, and you can only lose once every half-hour, so you can't scream 'I lost the game' every couple of minutes."

"Sounds fun," Swara said. "How do you play?" Sora laughed.

"I just explained it," he said. "You're already playing the game because you know it exists. Now, you have to not think about it for as long as you can without realizing that you aren't thinking about it. That's how you play. Until you lose. Then it's your responsibility to make sure everyone around you loses by proclaiming that you lost the game. Saying 'dammit', giving a frustrated groan, or simply swearing also helps."

"Sounds silly," one of the gazelles said.

"It grows on you," Sora answered. "So, what game are we actually playing?"

"Well," Swara said slowly, rolling her head around. "It goes something like this..." her horns quickly tapped Sora on his side. "TAG! You're it!"

Within one second all the gazelles had bolted away, but Sora had already picked out one and was rapidly dashing towards her. The gazelle was quick on her hooves however, and had learned a lot about the ways of her race from her parents and her peers about avoiding those in the chase. With every bound she would zig or zag away in another direction, forcing Sora to dive after her after a halting motion.

But Sora would not relent, and dashed straight and true down the middle, and when next the gazelle zigged she was moving too quickly to spot that she was heading straight for him. Sora's paw contacting her fur and his yell of 'you're it' were the next things she knew before the cub had vanished into hiding within the grass.

Sora tried to steady his breathing and move through the grasses as quietly as possible. He forced his mind to be reminded that these gazelles were better in tune with their senses than he was, and had probably played this game for years. That didn't say anything against him though. What human had never played tag for hours on end when they were a kid? Sora was no exception, but his years of experience were for running on two legs, with only sight and far less sophisticated hearing to aid him rather than factoring the sense of smell the gazelles had. He was at a disadvantage, his automail also making painfully obvious noise whenever he moved it.

_Wait a second_, Sora thought suddenly. _I do have one trick up my sleeve. At least, I hope I do._

Sora stopped moving entirely, and took a long breath in before exhaling, clearing his mind of all thought. He nearly swore in his own stupidity. He may have forgotten how to summon the keyblade, but that did not mean that his magic had also forsaken him. He swept his inwardly negative thoughts away and let the faint wind rustle through his fur and the grass, feeling the earth underneath his paws while his mind delved inwards. He nearly purred as he felt himself in a state of quiet contentment, at one with himself.

His closed eyes no longer saw the auras of the beings around him. He no longer needed sight in his new heightened state. He had achieved a much more definite state of meditation and being. He could now sense the minds, thoughts and positions of those creatures near him, and he felt the ground around him exploding with life. In the blackness left by his closed eyes he found himself crouching in the midst of a great star-filled sky, each light a life. Tiny insects abundantly populated the grass and soil beneath him well into the hundreds, even thousands. There were several larger creatures, likely mice, scurrying along, and many larger creatures about the size of gazelles lying low or slowly creeping around or grazing. Even the grasses he could sense in their plenty. He could still sense the strength and amounts of light and darkness within each creature's heart, and it disturbed him somewhat that his own darkness had grown even more powerful, but the strength of his light had also increased greatly. The darkness was still greater by a significant margin, unfortunately. The crest of Valour around his neck radiated with hidden, untapped power.

Sora opened his eyes and began to pace away slowly, still needing his sight to navigate in the savannah. He surprised himself after a few seconds, unable to help but notice that he was still sensing the minds of those around him. After half a minute's silent creeping, he was still feeling the minds of the life-forms around him, and his open mind felt the primal urges and basest of thoughts that they were projecting.

_Have to be careful_, Sora thought. He was not practiced or learned in using this power, this state of consciousness. It seemed incredibly useful, but he was sensing all life around him, and the savannah was teaming with life as his consciousness touched each and every one of them around him as he subconsciously probed it outwards. None of them seemed to notice his miniscule presence. But if they did, then wouldn't they be able to venture into his mind?

He suddenly froze, feeling the mind of one of the larger creatures sneaking up on him. His ears then picked up the movement in the grass moments after his mind screamed at him to move, and he did just an instant before a gazelle burst out from hiding in the grass.

Sora ran in panic, the base fear of fleeing from the person who's it taking over and dropping him out of that deeper state. It was an ironic twist for him to be the hunting creature and to suddenly be the hunted.

Eventually, Sora was able to shake off his pursuer by accidentally leading her towards another hiding gazelle and bolting off in the opposite direction as the startled youngling. The chasing gazelle switched targets and gave chase to the other, giving Sora a much needed break.

He needed practice in that state, he realized. He needed to practice exactly what Piximon had been preaching to him. He needed to clear his mind, and he needed to clear it of the minds of the life forms that were not important to him at the moment. It wouldn't be helpful to him if he were hiding from gazelles but he could not mentally feel their approach if he were watching crickets.

But solely relying on that would be too dangerous, so he'd also have to try and divert some of his attention to his other senses, those of sight and hearing and smell.

Sora quickly searched for a piece of cover and found a large rock in which he could hide behind, and found it already occupied by another hider.

"Sora," Swara whispered, keeping herself low behind the rock in the grass. "Hide here." Sora nodded appreciatively and slid in behind the young female gazelle.

"You aren't it are you?" she asked quietly, looking at him. Sora shook his head as he laid down, but Swara couldn't see his movement so he had to answer her question.

"If I was, I'd have tagged you by now," he whispered back. Swara nodded her head and said not another word, which Sora appreciated.

He tried getting into that deeper state again, the one where he'd be able to move with impunity while still sensing the minds of others around him. And he was able to achieve it again this time and the minds of the life forms around him all came rushing in in a massive jumble once more. It became harder to decipher his own thoughts amongst the thoughts of those around him, and even harder to try and block out the little ones.

The only thing Sora was able to do to save his sanity was latch onto his own mind and possibly one other, the closest one to him. Swara just happened to be there, and so he let his mind wander into hers, discovering her thoughts and anxieties that she showed no signs in attempting to hide from anyone who might be listening. And why should she have hidden them? Sora wondered. As far as he knew, he was the only one apart from Piximon who had this ability.

Swara tensed and Sora withdrew after hearing her think that she smelled something. Everything was gone now, the minds, the auras, everything. All he could feel now was himself, and Sora resolved that he'd train himself in using this new ability he'd been granted.

After the game of tag.

Swara slowly bent her legs, coming up from her position of lying down so that she'd be ready to spring into a flurry of motion in a heartbeat. Sora mimicked her. They waited tensely for a few unbearably long seconds, barely breathing, not making a sound as both strained their hearing and sense of smell to detect the one encroaching on their position.

Sora sensed movement behind them and acted before he could consciously understand the peril to his rear. His legs kicked off with a powerful surge of adrenaline, and Swara followed an instant later, making sure she kept close to the lion cub leading her. They weren't a moment too soon, for a whole two seconds after Sora's legs kicked into motion the male gazelle burst through the grass to find the rock empty.

A minute later Sora and Swara found another secluded hiding spot and tried to ease their racing hearts, smiling at each other for avoiding being tagged. But only a few more minutes had passed before they were forced to flee their new location for another one, and then another, and another as the tagged gazelle seemed to stalk them. They silently agreed that they made a good team. Swara was able to sense the approach of their adversary first, but Sora was able to detect their intent and leap into spontaneous action the instant before they made their move.

Which is why even as they huddled as silently as possible in the grass once again, Sora couldn't help but feel agitated when he felt a strong mental tug pulling him into his mind.

-A-D-

The next he saw was the golden platform with the image of the Kingdom Key on it. Riku, Roxas, Naminé, and Kairi were already there, but for some reason they were towering over him. Sora made one look at the looks on Kairi's and Naminé's faces before realizing that he was still a lion cub.

"You picked a really inconvenient time for this Naminé," he muttered. It didn't deter the looks of either Kairi or her twin, for they both simply giggled while Kairi came forward to Sora.

"Look Nam," she said, picking Sora up in her arms. "He's adorable like this."

"The kitty of a keyblade master," Naminé laughed.

Sora was about to retort angrily, but Kairi began petting him. Sora's face softened and he began to feel immensely contented.

"Aw, look at that," Roxas sniggered. "My brother's purring."

"Shut up Roxas," Sora moaned in contentment. "What's this meeting about anyway?"

Their customary egg shaped chairs appeared for them and each of them sat down, with the exception of Sora. Instead he lay in his girlfriend's lap while she continually stroked his fur with her gentle hand.

"Well actually Sora-kun," Kairi said. "We wanted to see how you were faring." Sora giggled slightly to himself while purring, the movement of his belly making him feel even better.

"You called me -kun Iri," he whispered, giving her other hand a lick. Kairi blushed at the feline display of affection.

"So do you have the keyblade?" Riku asked pointedly, not looking away from Sora. The lion cub raised his head slightly and looked at his best friend.

"Not yet," he answered. "But I am finally working on getting it back. No more moping for me."

"Good on you bro," Roxas said excitedly. "So what are you doing right now that makes this meeting inconvenient?"

"Well, uh," Sora began hesitantly, noting with disapproval that Kairi had stopped petting him and was looking at him curiously. "Right now I'm playing tag with a bunch of gazelles. And since we're doing this in real time, then Swara might have smelled or heard the approach of the one who's it."

There was a moment of silence amongst the friends before it slowly started to crumple under the poorly restrained laughter of each of them. Roxas was the first to openly laugh, swiftly followed by Kairi and then Naminé, with Riku chuckling to himself while shaking his head.

"You're playing tag when you should be trying to get the keyblade back?" Kairi asked humourously. "Least I know I'm not wasting away in jail for nothing."

"Hey," Sora countered, "I'm stuck here until King Mickey comes back to pick me up on Saturday, so I might as well have fun and make friends while I'm here."

"I know, it's just funny," Kairi said, resuming her petting. Sora was purring again a second later.

"I remember tag," Riku said slowly and wistfully. "I always won."

"In your dreams Riku," Sora challenged, opening an eye at him.

"What's the latest score then?" Riku asked smugly.

"According to my brother's memories," Roxas answered before Sora could, "eighty-two to seventy-one, in your favour."

"Nobody asked you Roxas," said Riku.

"Well smite me Riku."

"I already did that," Riku answered smugly.

"Wanna try again?"

"Enough Roxas. Eleven points means nothing," Sora grunted. Roxas nodded at his twin but still glowered a little at Riku. Sora looked up at Kairi while she continued to stroke him. "And eleven pounds doesn't mean anything either Kairi."

Kairi smiled sadly at him while she continued to pet her boyfriend's currently feline form. "Well I'm bound to lose a little weight while I'm stuck in my cell in the castle's dungeons."

"How's that working out for you?" Sora asked. Kairi smiled a little bit wider.

"The guards are nice," she replied. "And despite their orders I'm able to get them to do just about anything, well, anything except letting me out of the cell so I can go free." Sora's mind froze, remembering all too well the image Anti had planted into it while Kairi continued to talk. "They even smuggled me in a book to read. I swear, I will never look at vampires the same way again. Sora, you're shaking. What's wrong?"

Sora sighed and hung his head. "My darkness has a very sick and twisted mind," he muttered.

"You're darkness?" Naminé asked, confused. She and Kairi shared equally misinformed looks. Roxas and Riku, however, looked at Sora with utmost concern.

"You don't mean-" Roxas began.

"-your Anti-form?" Riku finished. "It's come back?" Sora nodded glumly while Roxas shot Riku an angry look for interrupting him. Sora suddenly felt a little uncomfortable as Kairi picked him up by his sides and held him to her eye level.

"Sora," she began hesitantly, "what are they talking about?" Sora couldn't bear to look into her eyes, ashamed.

"I never wanted to have to tell you this Kai," he said quietly. "But, like when Riku gave into the darkness and took the form of Xehanort's heartless, when I turned into a heartless to give you your heart back I gained another form as well."

"You mean you had more than just Valour, Wisdom, Master, and Final?" Naminé asked. Kairi put Sora back down on her lap so that he could continue looking at all of them instead of being forced to look only at her.

"Kairi, when I was a heartless, and you didn't leave me and brought my heart back to the light and gave me my body and soul back through your own heart, my darkness became locked into that heartless. Over time, that heartless grew and took shape from being just a mere shadow. It evolved into something that has my exact shape, but is made purely out of darkness. An evil creature: my Anti-form. It happened very rarely, but occasionally when I went into a Drive Form, Anti would take over me before it could set in, and I'd turn into something that I'm not, a dark beast who's only interest lay in killing anything around it, friend, foe, neutral, or loved one, I would become consumed by the desire to destroy anything and everything. That is my Anti-form, and it has a mind of its own."

"And it's coming back," Riku said, to which Sora nodded his head.

"I thought Final took care of Anti," Roxas wondered aloud. Sora shook his head.

"No," he said. "Final-form was only able to subdue Anti, never eliminate him. He's my darkness, and I can't get rid of him that easily."

"Final-form?" Kairi asked.

"Final-form was the epitome of my light," Sora answered. "I was in Final when my clothes had turned silver."

"Oh right," Kairi said, remembering seeing Sora in his former dress when it was all coloured in majestic silver.

"When I first drove into Final-form," Sora explained, "Anti felt its power, and so withdrew. But now that I've gained a bit more power just from having my crest, he's starting to get a bit more courageous, no, I shouldn't say courageous, bold or daring would be better, and trying to make me fall towards the darkness in my heart so he can take over again. Maybe this time he wants to permanently take control away from me."

"But why would he do that?" Roxas asked.

"Same reason Xehanort's heartless did with me," Riku answered. "Take over the worlds and have them fall into darkness."

"I'm not so sure," Sora answered dismally. "I think that might be part of his plan, but there's one thing I already know that he'd probably try doing."

"What's that?" Naminé asked curiously. Sora shifted in Kairi's lap uncomfortably, glancing up at her with anxious eyes. He felt like he'd rather be doing anything else right now than trying to explain this to the girl he loved.

"Does it have something to do with me?" Kairi asked tentatively, seeing the look in his eyes. Sora quickly turned to glare at all three of the others.

"Turn around, shut your eyes and ears," Sora ordered. "This is for Kairi's eyes and ears only."

"Uh Sora, you know that she'll just share everything with me via the mind link we have," Naminé pointed out.

"And I'll just break into your mind and find out what it is anyway," added Roxas. "So bad luck Riku, you'll be the only one in the dark. Oh, sorry about that."

Riku curled his lip into a snarl at Roxas. Sora rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he said. "But don't blame me if you get sickened. Blame Anti for putting it into my mind yesterday when he was trying to convince me that Kairi and the rest of you didn't love me. It's just a thought, but I'm pretty sure he's going to try doing something like it if he ever gets the chance." He pushed out a paw and looked away, but that couldn't block the image or sounds that he was magically projecting to his friends and brother from reaching his mind, for they had to be in his mind to share them. All he could do was keep his eyes on Kairi's face as she looked onto the image in sickened horror.

"Turn it off!" Naminé screamed while covering her ears with her hands and jamming her eyes shut. Sora was only too happy to oblige and stop the apparition with a shudder.

"You should seriously kill Anti the first chance you get Sora," Riku advised. "Something that sick does not deserve to exist within you."

"I can't agree more," Roxas agreed in a low tone. "And to think, I had to live alongside that guy for a while."

All eyes turned onto Kairi to see what her reaction would be. She was petrified, her eyes still fixated on the spot where she had seen the image.

"Three of them..." she mumbled. Her gut twitched and she held a hand close to her mouth, unable to meet the eyes of her friends or sister. "Ugh. Oh Thessaura that's _sick_! He'd want to that to _me_, except with like... strange tentacles of darkness or something?!"

"Kairi don't even _think_ about it!" Sora said urgently, wincing and keeping his eyes closed. "I don't want any more images of you being- just don't talk about it!"

"Don't worry Sora," Riku said in a low growl. "You aren't going to let him do that to Kairi, now are you?" Sora opened his eyes and looked at him, vehemently shaking his head.

"No," he said, his voice dripping with his most innate desire to keep Kairi safe from that horrible creature. "I'll be dead before I'd let him even attempt it." Kairi's hand began petting him again, and Sora felt his mind and worries being soothed.

"Let's not talk about this anymore," Kairi said tenderly. "We've got enough problems on our plate. We should at least be a little happy. After all, Pence turns sixteen today."

Sora looked up at her in surprise. "Sixteen today? Man, he's older than me! Why is everyone older than me?"

Roxas laughed. "Have you forgotten that Selphie isn't? And by the way, Hayner and Olette are both younger than us too. Oh, and Hayner asked Olette out two days ago."

"He did?" Sora asked, suddenly feeling very misinformed about the latest in teenage gossip. He didn't really care, it just perturbed him that even being gone for only two days put him that far behind. "Well extend my congratulations to Pence, and the two love doves."

Kairi giggled. "Love doves? That'll keep me smiling while I wait for my first day in trial tomorrow."

Sora looked up. "Tomorrow?" Kairi nodded and gulped, but her face was brave enough for the calmed feline as she continued to pet him.

"Go ahead and play tag Sora," Riku said with a smile. "We'll be fine until we come to get you." Sora smiled and rose to his paws on Kairi's lap, even if he was a little unsteady while standing on her thighs. With a quick bound he placed his front legs on Kairi's chest, being _very_ careful of where he put them, and licked her right over her lips.

Kairi couldn't help from giggling and smiling at Sora and enveloped him in a hug, kissing and rubbing her nose against his.

"Come back as soon as you can," she whispered.

"I'll do my best," Sora assured her before withdrawing his consciousness back into his own body.

-A-D-

The first thing Sora noticed when he returned to himself was that Swara was nudging him with her horns, her eyes a mix between bemusement and concern. He quickly shook himself to adjust his eyes to the landscape again and Swara took a step back so she could look at him better.

"You okay?" she asked. "You kind of, zoned out."

Sora blinked a few times and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said confidently, shaking his head slightly. "Don't know how I lost focus there. Has anyone crept by?" Swara shook her head.

"We've been lucky," she whispered. "One came pretty close, right after I noticed that your mind wasn't with me, but they passed by. I don't know why though, anyone who's it would have been able to smell you so easily. That's probably how the last one was able to keep on our tails for so long."

Sora scrunched his face up in resentment. "Are you suggesting that I smell?" Swara smiled and giggled ever so quietly.

"No," she answered wittily, "but the bugs you eat are a dead giveaway. And you simply have a different scent because you're a lion."

"Well forgive me for stalking a slug this morning," Sora said, rolling his eyes. "That reminds me, I'm still hungry." Swara tensed and took one more step backwards. Sora laughed. "What? You think I'd eat a friend? Boy, and I thought Jiminy was bad for not thinking I had self control."

Swara stopped moving and her mouth twitched into a smile. "Who's Jiminy?" she asked. Sora looked up.

"Jiminy?" he asked hesitantly. "Would you like to introduce yourself again?"

"Sure thing Sora," the cricket answered from within his hair. Swara nearly jumped at the sound of Jiminy's voice coming from Sora's head. "Just make sure you keep your promise and don't eat me."

Sora sighed and held up his automail paw for Jiminy to hop onto. Jiminy hopped out, a little later than Sora would have thought, and the reason became evident when he noticed that his cricket friend was on all six of his legs (funnily enough, Sora had only ever seen four before), and out of his top hat, gloves, shoes, and tailcoat, making him look very much like a regular cricket. Once the cricket was in plain sight Sora began speaking to him again. "Keep doubting me like that Jiminy and maybe I'll give you a quick pop into my mouth to see what it would feel like before you went down."

"No thanks Sora," answered Jiminy. "Monstro was enough. I never want to see the inside of a mouth again."

"Monstro?" Swara asked, confused. Jiminy hopped around to look at Swara.

"Pardon me where are my manners?" Jiminy asked himself. "Cricket's the name. Jiminy Cricket at your service." Sora chuckled slightly as he thought up a quick alteration to the story.

"This big brute called Monstro once tried to eat Jiminy," Sora explained as the cricket bounded back into his hair. He could feel from the slight changes in Jiminy's footing that he was standing up on two legs again and dressing himself again. "But before Monstro was able to eat Jiminy, we were able to get him to spit him back out."

"Wow," Swara said with widened eyes. "You'd do just about anything for your friends wouldn't you?" Sora laughed slightly and nodded.

"Yeah," he answered, "just about anything."

They stopped suddenly, all four of their ears twitching up as a twig snapped and someone nearby whispered, 'damn!'

The two of them had become too lax in their caution and were speaking too loudly for either of them to hear the approach of whoever would be hunting them. Cursing their wandering attention, Sora burst off in a flurry of both natural and metallic paws, Swara alongside him, just as the buck who was it dove through the grass after them. Lion cub and gazelle ran as fast as they could, their necks straining as they blazed through the whizzing grasses. The wind itself could not seem to catch up with them.

But still the buck kept pace, the tips of his horns just a foot behind the end of Sora's tail.

Sora dashed as quickly as he could, not falling to the desire to look behind him to see if they were still being chased. His ears and Swara's continued presence at his side confirmed that the pursuit was still hot. He couldn't think of anything but running faster than a scared hare. Escaping was as important as if his very life were on the line.

He had heard of Asterix using a spell to speed up both his movements and those of Riku, Yuffie, and Max. And Kairi had told him while they were strolling through the gardens that she had used her magic to quicken her pace while racing against Menelmon and Sikora before riding chocobos.

Hoping it would work, he cleared his mind of everything except the sight of a falcon, diving through the sky to snatch a fish from the waters of Destiny Islands. The whistle of the wind as a cheetah raced through the savannah he occupied.

"Haste!" he yelled while he ran. Swara thought he meant to run faster, but both were surprised when they felt a sudden surge of energy flow into their limbs. The legs of both creatures rapidly increased in pace until they were mere blurs, and they quickly left the bewildered buck behind in their dust. Sora's automail was whirring.

They stopped thirty seconds later, both of them falling limp onto the ground around them, heaving heavy chests up and down.

"We… lost… him," Sora said, lying on his left side while blearily looking at Swara. She appeared to be in no better condition than him.

"Looks… like it," she said, smiling slightly. Her smile made Sora laugh even in his exhausted state. After the first chuckle emerged from his lungs, Swara couldn't resist either.

"Whoa, what a rush!" Swara said. "I don't think even my mother's run that fast before."

Sora weakly shook his head. "Neither have I. But I don't think you'll ever be able to match that speed again. Was probably a one-time deal." Swara nodded her head in disappointment.

"Probably was," she said heavily. The gazelle rolled onto her legs and stood up. Sora waited another few seconds before his stomach grumbled. Frowning at it, he got onto his legs.

"I need to feed this bad boy," he said apologetically. "I'll see you around Swara." She nodded.

"See you later. I'll tell everyone you stopped playing." Swara leapt over the top of the grass and out of sight. Sora looked in her direction for a second before trotting off on his own to locate a suitable site for what would still be his breakfast.

Within two minutes, he was silently being followed again from both land and air.

-A-D-

Sora remembered one of the locations that Timon and Pumbaa had showed him where the best grubs were that was relatively near where he figured himself to be, and so made his best effort to get there as quickly as possible without expending too much energy trying to find the place. He was tired from the running, hiding, and quick spellcasting.

As it turned out, against his luck, the place he was heading for was much farther away than he'd anticipated, and before he could find it he found himself in the gorge. The very same gorge he remembered, that Simba's father Mufasa had died in during a wildebeest stampede instigated by Scar and his hyenas.

Sora stopped by a leafy tree next to a flat-topped rock angled up at a moderate incline. Simba had told him that he had almost been on that rock when the stampede started, only abandoning it to roar at a lizard that had been walking by him.

Sora felt the stone beneath his paws. Even now after years, if he strained his senses to their limits he could feel the shaking of the earth under the pounding of a thousand hooves, the roar of their cadence breaking into the stone, the musty smell of frightened wildebeest.

Wait, the smell wasn't so faint and faraway. And it was a more familiar scent to Sora than that of wildebeest. It smelled like…

Hyena.

Sora turned his head sharply as he heard the cackle of Ed's insane laughter. He hunched down and slowly backed onto the rock, trying not to look scared of the three hyenas that were approaching him. Of all the times that Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed had to appear, it had to be when he was tired and hungry and unable to summon his weapon, and the Sun beating down on him from above the cliffs of the gorge was beginning to make him thirsty too.

"Look what we found here guys," Shenzi said maliciously, almost licking her lips. "A little lion cub all by himself."

"Mm," Banzai moaned in delight. "Looks tasty without his turtle and bird buddies to back him up."

"Listen guys," Sora said cautiously. "I don't want any trouble." Shenzi placed one of her paws on the rock Sora was backing up on, and at the same time Sora's right rear leg waved out into open air. The three hyenas ignored him.

"What do you think Ed?" Banzai asked. "Do you think it was a good idea to leave that dreary graveyard today?" Ed nodded his head vigorously, laughing idiotically. Sora hopped backwards onto the stone ground beneath the rock's upper ledge, and stumbled on his landing. In an instant, Shenzi had leapt over him and Banzai and Ed were flanking her, forcibly driving Sora to press his back against the rock. Their teeth gleamed at him through their wicked smiles.

"Ooh, so many juicy spots," Shenzi said, glancing at the joints of his legs. "But don't eat that one Banzai, might give you indigestion."

"Why go for the shiny one?" Banzai asked, still advancing very slowly. "I'll strip his tail and take a rib."

Terror began to consume Sora as he quickly came to realize that he was doomed. The three hyenas were leaving almost no escape avenue between him and their razor-like teeth capable of breaking through bone.

Almost no avenue for escape, except back over the rock from whence he came.

An idea for escape suddenly came into Sora's mind. A tiny ray of hope on an ill-conceived plan that was so absurdly crazy, it just might buy him enough time to get away.

"Wait, stop!" he cried, holding out a paw in desperation. The three hyenas paused, if only to watch him beg for mercy. Sora looked directly at Shenzi in the middle and hoped his plan really would work.

"Shenzi Marie Predatora Veldetta Jacquelina Hyena, would you do me the honour of becoming my bride?"

The three hyenas blinked in stunned confusion for a second before Shenzi began laughing with closed eyes, drawing Banzai and Ed's looks towards her.

"I don't think-" Shenzi said, opening her eyes again.

"Yoink," Sora's trailing voice called back to them as his tail disappeared over the edge of the rock.

"Hey!" Banzai yelled directly into Shenzi's ear. "Our dinner's getting away!"

"Ah let him go," she said, spying vultures hovering over the sky somewhere else. "That leg of his would probably break our teeth anyway." Banzai snorted.

"You know, that's the second time our food's proposed to you before managing to get away. Maybe you're going soft."

Banzai yelped in pain as Shenzi's claws scratched the side of his face, Ed laughing horribly.

Sora chuckled to himself from the top of the gorge as he watched the hyenas walk away, arguing amongst themselves. Pompously turning around, Sora waded back into the vast savannah in another attempt to locate the bugs of which he craved.

He hadn't gone more than fifty strides when he stumbled upon Timon and Pumbaa, eating by an overturned log.

"How's it going Sora?" Timon asked, seeing him approach. Sora didn't answer him, preferring to dash towards the vast array of bugs on the ground and snatch one up with a racing mouth.

"Hungry," Sora answered with his mouth full of grubs.

"Wooie," Timon said, getting an eyeful of Sora as he began devouring bugs left right and centre. "You sure got that right. Pumbaa, give him a taste of snail." Pumbaa grabbed a snail from its place on the log and flung it right at Sora. He caught it in his paw and slurped it right out of the shell.

It was disgusting. Timon wanted him to defeat Simba in a contest of eating _these_? Just having three was a task that seemed daunting enough. But after one, Timon was on a roll, and had Sora eat _five_ more.

Sora felt about ready to puke.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea Timon," Pumbaa cautioned. "Sora's not looking so well."

"Nonsense Pumbaa," replied Timon, coming up next to Sora with another snail in his hands. He rubbed Sora's belly with his free hand and presented the seventh snail to Sora's mouth. "This champion's never looked better." With well practiced skill, Timon slid the snail up against Sora's mouth, and he was somehow able to ingest the slimy mollusc. Timon laughed as Sora swallowed and slapped him on the back.

"That's it," Sora said both very quickly and in a weak voice. "I'm going to hurl." He was only able to make one step when his stomach rejected the snails and other bugs he had eaten, dispelling them all over a disgusted Timon.

"Kid, we need to get you conditioned to these things," said Timon, trying to eradicate some of the bile from the red hair topping his head. "Try eating two a day every day for a week, and then move onto three, then four, for each new week, and we'll have you the snail slurping champion in no time."

"Ugh," Sora moaned, swaying on his legs with a hanging head. "Timon, just thinking about all of those snails makes me want to throw up again."

"Here Sora, have some water," Pumbaa said, giving him a coconut half filled to the brim with water. Sora weakly took it in his paws and sipped from it, spitting the water out of his mouth a few times to wash the taste of sick out. Drinking the water acted a little like a restorative tonic, and Sora shuddered after he'd managed to get it all down, feeling a bit better that there was now something occupying his stomach.

"Here," Timon said, holding up a bug with red and yellow stripes on its shell. "This one will perk you right up."

Sora turned away from the grub. The last thing he wanted right now was something Timon was offering him.

"He's right Sora," Pumbaa insisted. "We used to give them to Simba all the time when he was little and had a tummy ache."

Sora looked skeptically at both Pumbaa and Timon for a few seconds. Making up his mind to at least try it while his stomach complained once more that it was devoid of food, he quickly snatched it out of Timon's hands with a paw and swallowed the bug whole. He frowned at Timon when he felt nothing, but he had to wonder why he had believed that it would work instantly.

But, as Sora continued gorging himself out with his friends on the tiny, meaty creatures, he began to understand exactly what Timon and Pumbaa had been talking about. The bug he had ingested was making him feel better, much better in fact. The sickness that had come over him was fast becoming a thing of the past while his stomach's revulsion at the slime still in it had lessened until it was no longer discernable.

"You can't tell just by looking at them which are the _really_ slimy ones," Pumbaa said, looking over the grouping still remaining.

"Slimy?" Timon asked, affronted. "No my corpulent compadre, it's the crunchy ones that make the meal."

"Slimy," Pumbaa insisted.

"Crunchy," Timon countered.

"Slimy."

"Crunchy."

"Slimy!"

"Crunchy!"

"Less filling," Pumbaa argued.

"Tastes good," Timon challenged.

"Less filling!"

"Tastes good!"

Sora wearily rolled his eyes and swatted both of them with his front paws, being careful not to hurt Pumbaa as he hit him with his automail one. Both of the bickering animals looked at him in confusion.

"Look this isn't an argument," Sora said.

"Yes it is," answered Timon and Pumbaa simultaneously.

"No it isn't. It's just contradiction, an argument can't be just that."

"Well, it can be," Timon reasoned.

"No it can't," Sora answered. "An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition."

"No it isn't," Timon said, waving him off and nudging Pumbaa in the ribs.

"Yes it is," pressed Sora, feeling rather flushed. "It isn't just contradiction."

"But if we're arguing with each other we must take up a contrary position from each other," Pumbaa said. "Right?"

"Well it isn't just saying 'no it isn't'."

"Yes it is," said Timon.

"No it isn't," Sora insisted. He blinked and stopped for half a heart-beat. "An argument is an intellectual process. Contradiction is the automatic gainsay of anything the other person says."

"No it isn't," Timon said.

"Yes it is," Pumbaa contradicted.

"No it isn't," Timon argued.

"Yes it is," Pumbaa contradicted again.

"You just contradicted me," said Timon.

"No I didn't," Pumbaa countered.

Sora dismally shook his head and snatched up one last bug. He'd tried to help them out of their predicament, but it appeared as if he'd only made it worse.

_Intellectual process, look at who I'm talking to!_

"Crunchy is better," he whispered to himself as he passed by Timon and Pumbaa, still contradicting each other rather than arguing.

"See!" Timon exclaimed. "Sora agrees with me."

"If only because snails and slugs aren't crunchy ones," Sora added loudly, making sure Timon could hear him.

"Ha!" Pumbaa roared in triumph. "He prefers the slimy ones!"

"That's not what he said."

"Yes it was."

"No it wasn't!"

"Yes it was!"

Sora sighed, rolling his eyes as he left his friends behind in his wanderings of the Pride Lands. He wondered how the best of friends like them could argue so much. It wasn't like how…

Wait, never mind. He and Riku were exactly the same.

The Sun was already high and westering with the large clouds that were forming in the blue sky by the time Sora had finished eating bugs with Timon and Pumbaa. He wandered through the grasses of the savannah for a time, a little cautious of the feeling he was getting in his bones while he looked at the gathering mass of dark grey on the horizon, but generally contented. His desire from that morning to continue exploring the Pride Lands was not dampened by the prospect of rain that those clouds brought.

Cresting a hill, Sora looked out and saw a land that was not nearly as green as the rolling grasslands he was venturing through. It looked barren, with little plant life struggling on its rugged brown earth. He wondered why he'd never seen the place before, for it certainly didn't look like the desert wastelands he knew he'd need to cross to reach the lush jungle and oasis.

His curiosity peaked, Sora slowly made his way towards the area. Unknown to him, the shadow in the sky that had been following him wheeled off and began speeding across the skies at a high speed.

-A-D-

"Don't worry Simba," Nala said, lying next to her mate atop the base of Pride Rock's promontory. "Sora will be fine. He's not going to get himself into trouble."

"He doesn't have Donald or Goofy with him this time," Simba countered agitatedly, pacing. "Sora's still a child Nala, no matter what he says. Donald and Goofy probably kept him out of a lot more trouble than he could have gotten into by himself."

"You're worrying about him as if he's Kiara," Nala said, nearly suppressing a slight laugh.

"I love him as if he were my own cub," Simba said. "Maybe even more like a brother, the number of times we've fought together. He's not going to stay looking like a cub forever."

"But he can still act as childish as we did when we were cubs," Nala said, standing up. She nuzzled her neck against Simba's mane, halting him from his pacing.

"All the dangers we put ourselves into," Simba reminded her. "Sora could just as easily walk into any of them." Nala smirked and tackled him suddenly.

"You mean all of the dangers _you_ put us into," she corrected him as she lay across him. Her warm smile broke as she licked the side of his face. "Sora's a tough kid, and I wouldn't have thought that he could be King back when we still believed you dead without reason."

Simba was about to answer when another voice broke through the air. "Sire! We have a situation!" Nala rolled off of Simba and both lions stood up, watching with other members of their pride as Zazu quickly flew in Simba's direction.

"What is it Zazu?" Simba asked his huffing majordomo as the blue hornbill landed. "Aren't you supposed to be following Sora with Timon and Pumbaa?"

"Oh, don't even let me start about those unrestrained simpletons," Zazu muttered, but not too quietly to avoid Simba from frowning at him. Meekly clearing his throat, Zazu looked directly at Simba, the small amount of control he'd gained while mentally berating the meerkat and warthog vanishing.

"The lion cub you asked me to supervise is heading directly towards the Outlands," Zazu announced.

Simba and Nala shared hurried concerned looks.

"Lead the way Zazu," ordered Simba as Nala gave a roar to sound for any available lionesses to follow them.

As the pride moved out, none noticed the small form of Kiara following them as quickly as she dared. She couldn't keep herself under control, she just had to know what was going on and she could understand well enough by now that none of the adults would be about to tell her.

-A-D-

Sora parted his head through the long grasses at what he unfortunately did not know was the edge of the Pride Lands. The strange, barren place he saw in front of him seemed even more lifeless from up close than it did at a distance. Dark rocky crags stretched up from the bones of the earth like towers of broken teeth. Short, stubby plants grew in the hard reddish brown soil, spread across the area like creeping spiders. The place Sora spied was beyond a small ravine where a river ran slowly not eight feet below the edge, what looked like many logs floating in the water next to dead trees. Just beyond the river's far banks a massive cliff rose into the sky, dark and imposing in the light of the Sun beating against it.

Sora gauged the distance between the edges of the river's ravine and backed up, pawing the ground with his automail paw. Getting a quick feel for the wind to see if it would help or hinder him, Sora prepared to go into a flat-out dash to attempt the jump. He was sure he would be able to make it with plenty of clearance.

He ran towards the edge as quickly as he dared without using magic, but something caught his eye that instantly made him skid to a stop mere inches from the lip of the ravine.

One of the logs in the river was _moving_. And it wasn't moving in a manner that suggested natural water flow. Sora peered down at the river again, and the sight made his stomach curdle.

They weren't logs. The river was seething with concealed crocodiles.

Sora gulped and looked for another route across, his appetite for leaping towards the other side quenched by the knowledge of a quick and probably painful death in the jaws of one of the powerful beasts. He looked for a few seconds, and then noticed a fallen tree stretching across the ravine.

_That'll work_.

Hopping up onto its end, Sora calmly promenaded across, confident in his safety from the crocodiles.

"I'm not sure that this is such a good idea Sora," Jiminy whispered from within Sora's hair. "This place doesn't seem very safe. Maybe we should go back to the Pride Lands."

"The elephant graveyard isn't safe either Jiminy," Sora reminded him.

"But this place looks more like the kind of hangout for hyenas or predators that won't shrink away from eating a little lost lion cub," Jiminy said nervously. Sora paused and scanned the terrain around him, trying to visibly detect anything. He had to admit though that the rocks certainly weren't helping him out in his task. And he had already forgotten his determination to try out the new ability he'd learned while playing tag.

Sora took a cautious pace forward. "I don't think that there's anyone around here but us and the wind Jiminy," he whispered. He took another few paces, but each one came slower than the last, and his warrior instincts that told him when danger was near were starting to kick in, spreading anxiety through his body.

It didn't feel right to be here, it was far too quiet and desolate for his liking. The wastelands he could trudge through even in their searing heat and yellow stone, he never got the same feeling when there as he did here. These barren, rocky plains felt worse than the elephant graveyard and nearby cliffs that Sora had just mentioned. In there at least the land felt sombre and sorrow from the lingering morbid sense of those majestic fallen elephants and the continued presence of snarling, scavenging hyenas.

His next footstep clinked against a small rock, the object rolling away from his metallic limb. Sora froze, for at the same instant, he was just able to detect the sound of a paw twisting against the ground. He still wasn't good enough with his nose to pick up a certain smell of creature.

"I think we should be going Sora," Jiminy whispered. "I'm not as sure as you that we're alone."

Sora slowly started moving a paw backwards, whispering to Jiminy. "Yeah, I think leaving is a very good idea too." His eyes remained scanning the area in front of him while his legs continued their slow backwards march.

He fumbled slightly and looked back at his left hind leg. He immediately regretted it. As soon as his attention had wavered away from his surroundings there came a loud _roar_ from in front of him. His head snapped back to his front and he was terrified when he saw a very large (compared to him even if she did look a little unhealthy) and very powerful lioness leaping towards him at an alarmingly short distance.

She pounced directly onto Sora, sending him reeling onto his back while her forepaws pinned his shoulders to the ground, immobilizing him in his terror.

"What are you doing here Pridelander?" she asked savagely, giving Sora a front row view of her ferociously sharp teeth.

Sora tried to answer best in his fright. He thought he was done for when the hyenas cornered him, but this time he was positive he wouldn't be able to escape by proposing to the one about to eat him. Now he knew that he was about to be eaten.

"I- I was just curious what- what was over here," Sora stuttered fitfully, unable to draw his gaze away from the lioness' orange eyes overtop of a haunting yellow. "I- I don't want any trouble."

"Well it's too late," the lioness spat. "Now that you know what's here, you're never going to live to tell any of your friends."

"Please," Sora asked weakly while struggling, the adrenaline pumping though his body doing nothing to help his attempts to escape.

"You won't find any mercy here," said the lioness in a cruel chuckle, raising one paw to strike him a fatal blow while the other moved to his chest to keep him down. "Now say goodbye."

Her paw came down on Sora swiftly, but to him it seemed like in agonizingly slow motion as he watched the engine of his death approach with sharply bared claws that would rip right through flesh. His mind raced at the computing speed of Tron, trying to come up with a solution.

Then the answer hit him. The lioness had freed his shoulders. Her claws would rip through flesh alright, but they wouldn't have a chance of breaking through automail.

Just as swiftly as the lioness' downward motion, Sora raised his automail leg to block the strike that would cut right through his jugular. He felt his leg going wide out to the side, and the lioness looking at it in astonishment for it still being in one piece. The thought quickly flashed through his mind that he was fortunate that nothing broke, even if it did feel a little strained in that moment.

Quick as lightning, the lioness growled and pinned the automail leg to the ground to prevent a further blocking stroke, raising her other paw to try once more.

Sora closed his eyes, not wanting to see his end come for a second time, but snapped them open when he heard a very familiar roar burst through his ears. He dared a glance behind him.

"SIMBA!" he yelled, hope burgeoning into his heart. He immediately felt recognition with Kairi's predicament a few days previous when tears threatened to break through his eyes.

The Lion King nearly flew over the river in a hasty dash towards his helpless friend, at least eight lionesses following along with a meerkat riding on a warthog. The lioness who had Sora pinned removed her paw and roared back at Simba in a challenge as she took two steps backwards, realizing that her meal was now lost.

"Zira!" Simba spat, standing protectively over Sora's still prone form.

"Simba," the lioness, Zira, acknowledged with something like glee in her voice. The lionesses around Simba began to growl and Zira took notice of them. Pumbaa snorted angrily as well. "Nala."

"Zira," Simba's Queen said.

"Timon, Pumbaa," said the meerkat, referencing himself, the warthog. His expression still maintaining a façade of snotty politeness, he continued. "Great, now that we all know each other, GET AWAY FROM OUR BUDDY!"

"Your friend?!" Zira snapped back with a roar at the snorting warthog. Timon shrank back into Pumbaa's black hair.

"This cub was going to be my dinner," Zira snarled.

"Not today he isn't," Simba retorted. "Now get out of my sight."

"Oh contraire, _King_ Simba," Zira countered, apparently almost biting her tongue on calling Simba 'king'. "These are the Outlands. And _I_, as leader of the Outsiders, have the say here."

"You want to bet on that this close to the Pride Lands Zira?" Simba asked, baring his teeth.

"I will say what I want in these forsaken lands you have banished us to Simba," Zira answered simply. "Here, where we have little food and less water, while you launder about in those lands that rightfully belong to Scar!"

"But Simba's-" Sora began.

"Stay out of this Sora," Simba said, quick to cut him off. He looked back at Zira, but before he could say anything, Zira roared once more.

"So _this_ is the flea-bitten cub that helped you kill the true King of Pride Rock," she growled malevolently, her spiteful eyes causing Sora to take another two steps back underneath Simba's bulk. "He has now become my enemy rather than my dinner."

"You were about to kill and eat a lion of the Pride Lands," Simba said, his voice carrying every weight of authority and displeasure he could press into it. "A great warrior and defender of the Pride Lands known as Sora, whom I name here and now as a brother to me and member of my Pride. If you should lay another paw on him, we will hunt and strike you down."

Zira merely snarled at him.

"Now get out of my sight," Simba growled, picking up Sora by the scruff of his neck. Zira snorted and turned her back on Simba, leaving with her dignity if not her supper.

Another figure that no one noticed crept away from the edge of the cliffs as Simba began to make the way back to Pride Rock in the middle of the group. The creature had observed the whole scene, and the sight of both Sora and Simba would have given him feelings of extreme anger. That is, if he had had a heart with which to feel them.

But he had also seen something that the others had not, something that gave him a malevolent idea.

Zira stopped on her way back to her run-down home when she heard a throaty growl. She paused for a brief second, noticing that the stones themselves around her feet were trembling at the sound. Snarling, she put it out of her mind, and in her belief that Simba or one of his lionesses had come to further gloat, she angrily turned towards the sound.

Her surprise was complete when she saw a male lion there instead. His mane was pitch black, his fur a dark reddish-brown, and his eyes very green over the whites of his eyes, which had decayed into a vindictive amber. The lion's muscles were thick like the trunk of a great tree and his claws as sharp as cruel, jagged stones. A scar that was hideous ran vertically over his left eye.

Zira's eyes widened in disbelief and she fell to her knees in a reverent bow. "Scar. My King, my husband. You have returned."

"Yes Zira," 'Scar' said. "I have returned. But, you may now call me Xarcs. A name that shall cause both Simba and Sora to quake in terror, a name that shall be whispered in awe throughout the worlds, a name... of unrivalled renown!"

"Yes Xarcs!" Zira proclaimed excitedly, already abandoning the former name of her mate.

Xarcs took a another step closer to Zira and began to whisper in her ear, "And, my Queen, I already have a plan that will devastate my dear nephew's heart and no longer make him a threat to you or my loyal followers in our bid to glorious return to the Pride Lands."

Zira's eyes shone with awe and devotion and she bowed again. "What is your bidding, my King?"

-A-D-

"Sora, what were you thinking?" Simba asked, now letting Sora walk beside them on their way through the Pride Lands. "To go into the Outlands like that?"

"I was curious," Sora said in his own defence. "I'd never seen the place before and I wanted to know what it was and what was in it." Simba sighed and shook his head. Sora was acting very much like Kiara or any other young cub. He thought he could have expected that Sora was a bit more mature than that.

"What are the Outlands and Outsiders though?" Sora dared to ask after a moment. "I've heard them mentioned a couple times, and was even asked if I was one. But, what are they?"

"Well you already know what the Outlands are," Simba explained, nodding his head back in the direction they just came from in the Sun's dusking light. "They're those wastelands over there. The Outsiders are lions who remained loyal to Scar after we defeated him. They would not accept his death and resisted me and my father's line, and for that, they were banished. Now they want nothing more than to return to the Pride Lands and overthrow me. Zira was Scar's Queen."

"Ouch," Sora said, looking down. He couldn't think that anyone would be loyal to Scar (or even being his wife), not after what Nala had told him, Donald, and Goofy when they'd first arrived and seen the things Scar had done firsthand. But he supposed that every leader, no matter how horrible, had to have their loyal followers.

"Know what Sora?" Timon asked suddenly. Sora looked up at him.

"What?"

"You're going to have to help us babysit Kiara now." Sora paused for a second.

"What?" he asked, bemused.

"Well Simba named you a brother to him right?" Timon said. "This means you are officially a Pride Lander, and an uncle to Kiara."

"In other words Sora," Nala said, amused at Sora's expression. "You're family now. So you have to help watch over her whenever you're here."

"Congratulations Sora," Pumbaa said. "You're an uncle now."

Sora couldn't help but laugh after the realization that he was an uncle struck him. He would have always thought that to become an uncle he'd have to wait until Roxas and Naminé got married and had kids. Now he was uncle to a lioness at age fifteen. That actually gave him an idea of a way to get back at Roxas and Naminé for the pranks they'd played on Kairi and him.

On their way back, they passed by Rafiki's tree. The old mandrill was home and, after hearing about their tale of Sora's misfortune in the Outlands, insisted that Sora spend the night and next day there under his watch. Neither Simba nor Sora could exactly disagree with Rafiki and win, and so with a heavy heart Sora stayed at Rafiki's tree while the rest of the pride that had left with Simba went back to Pride Rock under the gathering clouds.

Rafiki struck Sora's head with his stick again the first chance he got after Simba had left.

It rained again that night, and even though Sora had clambered up the thick trunk to rest in the dry dell with Rafiki, he wondered why the crazy old monkey had kept him there instead of letting him go to Pride Rock with Simba.

-A-D-

_How'd you guys like this Pride Lands chapter? You won't be seeing it for another one, possibly two chapters, so be prepared for a short break from Sora._

_And, I had wanted this segment to be forty chapters long, but (gulp) I just realized how much I actually have planned for just __**myself**__ to write! So, expect at least fifty or sixty. And really I have a question for you all. Since to me it seems like this is really a continuation of __**The Beginning**__ rather than the start of __**The War**__, I've considered simply stapling all of this onto the end of __**The Beginning**__ and continuing to write __**The War**__ once it actually begins to start, which really would be almost right after Kairi's trial, about four/five chapters from now._

_Tell me what you guys think._

_I've decided. This part, which used to be titled **The War** has now been renamed **A Week of Troubles. The War** will continue after this segment is finished._

_Leave a review please._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	19. The Author

_So away from the Pride Lands and back to Radiant Garden to see what's been happening with Kairi since Sora left._

_Let's see how it goes. BTW, there is discussion of drinking and alcohol in this chapter. So be mindful. And novice drinkers, (glares at all people under legal drinking age) take the advice given in this chapter seriously! If you don't follow it, you will suffer like many (including myself) suffer when they're first starting out._

_I've also decided that the story will not be stapled onto the end of __**The Beginning**__. This part has a completely different feel than __**The Beginning**__ did, and so I feel that it wouldn't do too well. Plus, it would confuse everyone including me, and all the reviews received for this story would go down the drain. The story's been renamed, and it will end right after Kairi's trial on a mostly positive note unlike last time (whoops, probably expected spoiler), and __**The War**__ will start again when we get to the actual start of that part._

_Disclaimer: (Taps foot impatiently while the termites slowly eat the sign. Gets bored and grabs a chainsaw and begins ripping through the already mostly destroyed wood.)_

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter XIX: The Author

Kairi had stayed silent in the cell she'd been placed in for the remainder of the day and entire night after she'd been arrested, lost deep in thought. She'd been taken out of the van near an entrance to the castle's underbelly where Ansem's laboratories had resided. The corridors had been restored to what they were before Xehanort had taken over in Ansem's place, tiled floors and white walls with brass pipes snaking through and around the corridors between the rooms. Kairi had been led through the area quickly to avoid anyone who might have been there when they shouldn't have been, and the man and two women with her completely avoided the corridor that led to Ansem's study and Tron's computer console. All through the corridors, the three of the agents who had arrested her confidentially professed their regret that they were doing this, but maintained that since it was their duty, they would not be swayed to letting her go free before opening a thick wooden door to the dungeons.

There had thankfully been no other prisoners in the dungeons of the castle, for its dungeons were rather small with only six cells in a row along a straight corridor. When Kairi took a look into each one of the cells she surmised that they had to exist only for very important prisoners such as her (as a princess), for each cell was furnished with a somewhat luxurious twin-sized bed, a small wooden table and chair, a clock-radio, and tiny adjoining room with a toilet, sink, and mirror concealed behind a curtain. Agent Robert Jackson had told her when she asked that her suspicions were correct. These cells were used only for VIP prisoners, usually royalty, nobles, or prestigious persons. There was another jail within the city that held ordinary criminals.

They put her into the third cell from an open doorway without a door on the corridor's other end and centred in front of the first cell. The walls of each cell were stone, so it was impossible for another inmate to peer into adjacent cells to see what the occupants were doing, therefore granting them privacy. In truth though, this made it harder to easily guard prisoners since the only way to see what they were doing would be to stand directly in front of the cell they were imprisoned in.

Two guards, both female and dressed in light brown leather armour with swords sheathed on their hips and spears in their hands, had been posted to guard the dungeons within fifteen minutes of her arrival, and the agents took their leave.

Neither guard nor Kairi spoke throughout that first night, and strangely none of her friends had come to visit her to at least assure her that they would do whatever they could to get her out. She knew that they would, but it still would have made the sinking pit in her stomach go away if she'd even heard one of them say it. Naminé hadn't even talked to her mentally, which made Kairi feel very sad and confused.

But of the main things she wondered about while she sat in horrible silence, broken only occasionally by a sneeze or shuffle of feet from one of the three females in the area, or the sound of one of them taking a drink or eating when food was brought down for the three of them (since the guards were ordered to remain at their posts at _all_ times and to not let anyone relieve them so a table and two chairs were also brought for them), she wondered how it was that they had even found out. She was positive that none of her friends had blabbed, and over time, gained the idea in her mind that Sora's nurse had overheard her talking with Sora and Riku and told somebody, who told another somebody, who got it to whoever wanted to press these charges against her.

Jackson had also told Kairi that treason wasn't the only charge facing her. She was also facing assault with a weapon causing bodily harm. So they'd somehow also found out about her cutting off Sora's arm as well. How though?

She guessed that it didn't matter how they knew, just that they did. And since they knew, the only thing she could do would be to convince them like she convinced her friends that she believed that what she had done was right.

Despite her silence, in the morning when the guards gave Kairi her breakfast, she was unable to keep the corners of her mouth from twitching up into a half-hearted smile and thanking them.

"No problem," the woman answered, smiling slightly back at Kairi. The young princess nodded her head slightly and went to her small wooden table and nice wooden chair to eat her cereal and fruit.

"That's it," the other guard said irritably. "I can't take the quiet here anymore." She stood from her chair and grasped her hands around the corners of the table.

"What are you doing Jenkins?" the other guard asked, raising her eyebrows at her partner. Kairi looked up from her breakfast and peered out of the bars as best as she could without leaving her table.

"Moving this thing," the guard replied. "So help me out here." The other guard stayed put for a second before slowly rising from her chair and helping grab the other half of the table.

"Where we moving it to?" she asked, following Jenkins' pull.

"Right here," she replied, letting her end down centred against the bars of Kairi's cell. She turned towards Kairi, who was watching them, and smiled while giving her a quick and graceful bow. "Would you like to join us for breakfast milady?" Kairi couldn't resist smiling and letting a tiny fluttering laugh escape her lips. Carefully placing her tray consisting of a bowl of cereal, glass of fruit juice, and orange on the bed, Kairi picked up her table and placed its edge against the bars. If they weren't in the way, it would have looked like the two tables were joined. Grabbing her tray again and placing it back down in its place, Kairi sat down again and then the two guards sat down as well.

"Introductions first," the one who had spoken first and moved the table said, looking directly at Kairi. "Hi, my name is Crysta Jenkins."

"And I'm Marie Namis," the other guard said.

"Princess Kairi Talerith," Kairi said.

"We know," both guards said simultaneously.

"We were also told what you're being charged with," Jenkins said, beginning to eat. "Treason and assault huh? What for?"

"You know we aren't supposed to talk to her about this Jenkins," Marie said.

"Pff, I don't care," Crysta answered. "We're the only three here and I'm bored. Might as well meet and talk to our princess while we have the chance."

"You have a point," Marie said after a moment, before taking a sip of water that she had in a canteen.

Kairi waited a second before sighing. "You of course, remember when Maleficent attacked me in the streets a few nights ago."

"How could we not?" Namis said quickly. "Just thinking about what she did to you makes my blood boil. And not in a good way."

"She deserves to pay," Jenkins agreed. Kairi looked down, refusing to meet their eyes.

"Well," she said, her voice full of regret. "I actually had asked her to come so that I could surrender to her."

The silence that she left them with was absolute for a whole second.

Then, "What?" Crysta asked, astounded.

"Get out," Marie said, almost at the exact same instant, half rising from her chair.

"I had given up hope," Kairi continued, still not meeting their eyes. "I still can't believe that I had thought that there was no way Maleficent could be defeated. She just, she was so strong when we fought against her on Destiny Islands, I-I don't know what I was thinking anymore."

"Well you'd better hurry up and remember what you were thinking," Crysta said. "We're no legal counsel, but I doubt you'll do very well if your defence can't convince the jury that you don't deserve to be prosecuted."

"Don't I know it," Kairi muttered, finally bringing her head up and managing a weak smile. She was silent for a few seconds and preferred to eat a slice of her orange while looking around.

"You know," she began again, "this dungeon is actually much nicer than the place I was in the last time I was in jail."

Both guards nearly choked on their food.

"You were in jail _before_!?" Marie exclaimed, being the first to recover. Kairi simply smiled and nearly laughed.

"Only through association," she said, like the whole affair was trivial.

"Association?" Crysta asked. Kairi shrugged.

"When we were on Port Royal," Kairi began. "We ran into a little trouble with the law when we arrived. Sora's friends William Turner and Elizabeth Swan were getting married, but the wedding was interrupted by rain and soldiers who arrested both of them for conspiring to set free a man condemned to death. There was also another man who was supposed to be arrested, the former Commodore Norrington, and out of Sora, Donald, and Goofy, they only entitled to give Sora a name and list Donald and Goofy off as accomplices. So when we showed up and they spotted Sora, they arrested Max and me too."

"The punishment for our apparent crime of befriending Pirate Captain, Jack Sparrow was also death, but we cheated that through shady deals with Lord Cutler Becket, earning our ticket out of jail in order to go and find Cpt. Sparrow to offer him Becket's terms of employment in his company as a privateer. It was actually just Sora that was supposed to go with Will, but I busted out so I could go with them."

"So you've been arrested before, and broken out of jail?" Crysta asked in disbelief. Kairi grinned sheepishly and nodded. Her expression suddenly turned blank for a second before she slammed her fist down on the table, to the surprise of both of her guards.

"Dammit Norrington!" she said angrily. "Why couldn't I figure it out before!? _He_ had the heart! That's why he left us at the longboat! Now Becket probably has the heart and is controlling Davy Jones with it. The seas aren't safe for any self-respecting pirate; or anyone for that matter if he joins up with Maleficent."

"Princess Kairi, what are you talking about?" Marie asked unsteadily, sharing a glance with Crysta. Kairi looked up at the two of them in surprise, having forgotten for a moment that they were there.

"Oh it was just," Kairi stopped and sighed. "Never mind. It's probably nothing that you would have to worry about anyway. Just forget I said anything."

Her guards nodded and left it at that, though they were still confused at to what their princess was talking about. Both felt as if the affairs of the worlds were a lot bigger and more confusing than they'd thought before.

"So you said that you were there with Master Sora," Marie said suddenly, trying to spark up another conversation that wouldn't end in such a confusing manner as the last one. "What's he like?"

Kairi looked at them in surprise for a second, almost choking on a sip of her juice. "You mean you don't know?"

"Well we haven't exactly met the guy," Crysta said humourously. "We're very grateful for all he's done for us, saving our world more than a few times, and saving you too a couple of times, but what's he actually like?"

A faint tinge of pink crept onto Kairi's cheeks while she smiled. "Sora's complex," she said at length. She noticed the looks of the two women still looking at her and found herself compelled by silent insistence to continue. "He's goofy and fun most of the time, but he can also be serious when he has to be. He hasn't really become a lot more daring or reckless than he was when we still lived carefree lives on Destiny Islands; I actually think he's become a bit more cautious, but he's still pretty adventurous and curious when on a new world. Although, being cautious could partially be because he knows how I'd react if he got hurt since I'm there with him instead of Donald and Goofy. He generally tells people what he's thinking or feeling, but recently, he's seemed more reserved or distant, I'm not sure what it is. In battle he's fiercer than none, and fights with everything he has to win and protect those in need. He can be scary sometimes when he's fighting heartless."

Kairi shook her head for a second, but smiled warmly and closed her eyes afterwards. "But every time I see him grin or his hand holds mine I'm reminded that that's only a part of him that appears when he needs it to. The rest, he's simply Sora. Gentle and kind, loyal to his friends until the end, and the only one who can make my heart-" she stopped suddenly, feeling her face beginning to grow hot as she felt the words she would have said preparing to rush out. Kairi felt that it would be a little more than just embarrassing to tell her guards (though both were women and liable to understand) exactly how Sora made her heart throb with love as everlasting as the stars and as fierce as the fires of a volcano every time he kissed her lips. The song she sang in Atlantica began playing through her head, and she didn't really mind.

Unfortunately for her even though she didn't start singing the lyrics, her mumbled string of 'do's that kept rhythm with the tune were enough to let both Crysta Jenkins and Marie Namis know exactly how she felt about Sora.

"Ah," Jenkins sighed. "Young love."

"The best kind of love," Namis added, smiling at Kairi's sudden blush when she realized she'd been found out. "not like when you're twenty-two, go to a club with your boyfriend and you find him kissing some other girl out on the dance floor while he's drunk as piss!"

"But he's drunk," Kairi said quickly. "You can't blame him! He's just a guy."

"If Master Sora ever does something similar, milady Kairi," Marie said both quickly and sharply, her tongue cutting right through to Kairi's heart, "then you'll find that you can blame him."

Kairi felt her heart rise up in anger at her suggestion. Sure, Yuffie had kissed Sora just yesterday, but she had completely blindsided everyone with that and it was simply to answer Selphie's ridiculous question. And immediately after it was over Sora had apologized more than enough for Kairi. And the hour they had spent together in the gardens of the castle and the parting kiss he had given her had doubly made up for Yuffie's sudden swing.

So how dare someone even suggest that Sora would cheat on her!

"I think you might have made the princess mad Namis," Crysta said quietly, back away slightly as she felt heat radiating from within Kairi's cell. Indeed, Kairi's eyes were blazing so fiercely she hadn't even noticed that she was unleashing waves of fiery magic.

"No," she said at last, glowing at Marie. "Just because you might have had a bad experience with guys doesn't mean that all men are like that. Sora would never do anything along those lines."

"Alcohol blurs those lines milady," Marie said again.

"Sora doesn't drink," Kairi retorted.

"He's fifteen, he doesn't like drinking yet," Marie explained.

"He'll be sixteen a month from now," Kairi answered. "And he still won't like drinking then. He hated the taste of rum when we tried it in Port Royal."

"Did you have the rum straight?" Marie asked. Kairi blinked and looked back at the two women with weighted confusion.

"Um… yes."

"And was it hard rum or a light rum?" Marie pressed.

"How would I know?" Kairi asked hesitantly. "I'm only sixteen." Crysta lightly placed a hand to her forehead.

"Oh my," she moaned. "Our princess is drinking underage like most teens and doesn't understand a thing about it."

"It was just once and only a sip!" Kairi retorted. "I don't drink."

"Well here's some advice when you finally do start drinking," Marie said. "The reason neither of you liked that rum is because it was probably hard rum and it was, likely, your very first taste of alcohol. A good rum for you to try when you start is white rum in coke. But don't, I repeat, _do not_ have a rum in coke and then have a vodka-based drink. Do not mix your drinks or it will f- up your stomach."

"But shots are fine," Crysta explained. "You can have a vodka shot, tequila shot, and jäger shot while still drinking rum-based drinks and you'll be fine. Shots will just go through you like _that_. Well, the alcohol won't, but they won't upset your stomach so that you're hugging the toilet all night."

"You both talk like you speak from experience," Kairi said, unnerved. "But since I'm not going to drink and _never_ going to drink, I'll just ignore the creepy feeling you're giving me." Both women guards laughed.

"You'll see," Crysta said. "You'll start drinking once you're at a party or something similar. Sure you won't want to try it now, but when you're there you'll give in to peer pressure and you'll find that it actually isn't all that bad. No one is telling you that you'll have to get so drunk you'll pass out or become best friends with your toilet, but a little bit of a buzz when you won't have a hangover in the morning won't kill you."

"This conversation isn't what I was expecting," Kairi said in a slight laugh and smile. "I thought you would end up asking me something like if a kiss from Sora was better than chocolate. Which it is by the way."

"It only is because you're hopelessly in love with him and he's hopelessly in love with you and you both know it," Marie said with an impish grin and a wink.

"But Master Sora's no Prince," Crysta said with a sigh. "And as Royal Policy dictates, princesses of our world need to marry princes."

"And where am I going to find a prince that would love me like Sora does?" Kairi asked sharply. "Where would I find anyone who would go to the end of the worlds and back to save the universe or help his friends?"

"I don't know," Crysta said. "Maybe something will happen and you'll both be in the clear. Same deal with Princess Naminé and Sir Roxas. Though actually, she's a bit more in the clear than you are right now because he's a knight and keyblade master while Sora's just a keyblade master."

"_And_ two-time saviour of the worlds as well as having saved me from Maleficent and Xemnas," Kairi retorted quickly. "Twice, no three times! Sora's saved me from the bad guys three times now! If there's anyone who deserves my love and wholeheartedly has it it's him."

"Can we stop talking about romance?" Marie asked politely. "We're still trying to eat and we still really shouldn't be talking to you since you're a prisoner and we're guards."

Kairi sighed and looked down at what remained of her cereal. "I guess so," she shrugged. "But you do know that this means I'm going to be terribly bored while I'm down here."

"I've got a book you could read," Crysta said. "We're not supposed to give you anything, but I'm sure going crazy because of a bored and frustrated teenager is a good excuse."

Kairi glanced around the small quarters that was her cell and nodded. "Yeah, a book would be a good distraction."

"Great," Crysta said. "I hope you like vampires." Kairi laughed nervously at the wicked grin that was on Crysta Jenkins' face.

-A-D-

"Why can't I go see her?"

"Your Highness we've been through this," Leon said, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance as he stood in the corridor on the castle's third floor where Naminé's room rested. "Even though she is your sister now and you are not simply a part of her, you can't see her because it's forbidden by law for people accused with treason or held within the castle dungeons to receive visitors other than interrogators or their defence counsel."

"But I'm a princess of Radiant Garden," Naminé protested. "Shouldn't that count for anything?"

"It should set a warning light off in your head is what it should do," Leon said. "Look at what's just happened to Kairi and maybe it will kick in. She's a princess too, and she's been arrested and charged for treason and assault against Sora. If she can be arrested, so can you. That's the Rule of Law. Nobody and I mean nobody can break the law without the prospect of being arrested. If you go down there, you'll be breaking the law too and the same thing can happen to you." Naminé stayed silent for a minute, and Leon was finally sure that he'd driven the point home.

"Look Naminé," he said tenderly. "I know that this has to be hard for you, but I don't think it'll do you any good to worry so much about her. Kairi wouldn't have made it through waiting for Sora to rescue her if she wasn't strong enough to sit in a jail cell."

Naminé sighed and placed a hand to her head. She did not like this. She didn't like that the government's agents had somehow found out about Kairi inviting Maleficent for tea and surrender, she didn't like that they'd also found out about Kairi destroying Sora's arm, and she really didn't like that she was supposed to stay put in the castle and pretend that Kairi wasn't even there. She didn't agree with Leon in the slightest that there was a group out there in Radiant Garden's theatre of politics that wanted to put both Kairi and her out of business when it came to being royalty, she liked being royalty. She knew now that that party existed, but that they'd never won any seats or gathered support in the last election.

True, the last election had been the world's _only_ previous election and now they were supposed to go to the polls again only a few months after voting Leon's government in. However that still didn't dismiss the evident lack of support for the Anti-Monarchist Party.

"Then why is _he_ here?" Naminé asked, pointing at Tom, who was standing at the end of the corridor like a guard. In an instant, Tom teleported directly in front of Naminé in a flash of energy, startling her slightly.

"Because me dad was the 'ead of your real dad's bodyguard," Tom said smugly. "So I'm your bodyguard of one, princess." He fingered the silver pendant that hung around his neck of two crossed swords over a heart.

"You know I wonder," Naminé said, putting a finger to her chin and looking at Tom's pendant. "If that's the crest of the Royal Guard of Radiant Garden, why is the symbol of Radiant Garden a shield with a floral design on it? And, don't I get to choose the members of the Royal Bodyguard?"

"Nah," Tom said with a shrug. "It's the mutant's job to be the 'ead of the guard. You can choose everyone else, but the 'ead position is mine. The gene runs in the family."

"What?" Naminé asked, looking at Tom with suspicion.

"Genetics," Tom answered. "The mutant gene that runs in me family gets passed down. Me dad 'ad it, I 'ave it, and any descendants of mine I might 'ave will 'ave it too. Though, it changes every time. So my powers are different from me dad's powers and any kids o' mine will 'ave different powers."

"What exactly are your powers?" Naminé asked. "I've only seen you teleport, retract blades from your arms, and send out a blast of electricity from your hands." Tom shrugged slightly and rolled his head, making an extra jerk in it to crick his neck. Naminé winced at the sound.

"Well," he said. "I've also got acceleration, or rather, _enhanced_ acceleration and speed. Enhanced strength, 'ealing regeneration, mastery of magnetism, and advanced senses. So right now I can 'ear that someone is about to open the door to this corridor and come in 'ere."

Naminé looked sceptical, but true to his words, a few seconds later she could faintly hear the sounds of footsteps on the stone of the corridor every alternate step, like someone was only half on the carpet. Then her eyes caught sight of a mass of spiked blonde hair.

"Hey Roxas," she said pleasantly, smiling. "Come to visit me while our friend has me grounded?"

Roxas laughed as he came up to her and quickly and tenderly kissed her. "Not quite," he said.

"There are more people coming," Tom said, shrugging. Roxas looked at him inquiringly before glancing at Naminé.

"Enhanced senses," she explained with a shrug. Roxas nodded slightly.

"Okay," he said, more to himself than anything. "Anyway, the ones who are really here to see you are the other princesses. They would like to know why you asked and arranged for all of them to be here." He took a step back and folded his arms. "And actually, I'd like to know that too. You never did mention why back when I asked you a few nights ago."

Naminé sighed and shook her head slightly, looking down. "I'm not exactly sure why," she said. "All I know is that Thessaura told me to gather them together after we would get back to Radiant Garden from Amestris."

"So you did all that," Tom surmised, rolling his hand in the air for nothing more than to show he was continuing his sentence, "because some Goddess of Light told you to do it?"

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Yes," Naminé said. Tom shrugged.

"Well, least it wasn't an evil God of Unstoppable Darkness or something," he said.

"Do you have to be so ominous?" Leon asked, frowning at the boy in the green trench coat.

"Yes," Tom answered smugly. "And I thought I'd just throw in a bit of possible foreshadowing for when our beloved Goddess of Light turns to evil."

"What?" Naminé asked, blinking furiously.

Just before the other Princesses of Heart rounded the corner to come in sight of Naminé, Roxas, Tom, and Leon, a different voice issued out of the room at the extreme southern end of the hall. "Tom," the voice said, "could you come in here for a minute." Even though the words were phrased as a question, the tone of the voice left no room for doubting that it was anything but an order.

Shrugging, Tom nonchalantly said, "I'll be right back. So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen adieu." Tom started to leg it, rather quickly for the door to the room, the curious eyes of Naminé and Roxas following him before being broken off by the arrival of the other princesses.

"'Ello?" Tom asked, opening the door and looking around the room. At first glance he saw that there were no persons within the room, but that it had to be the bedchambers for the King and Queen (if there happened to be ruling monarchs at the time, which there weren't). There was a very large and posh, and likely extremely comfortable King-sized four-poster bed on the room's left, soft white linen sheets hidden underneath an equally white and fluffy comforter made out of what appeared to be fake fur. Beside the bed there was a heavy wooden chest, and a little distance away from it there appeared to be a walk-in closet. The room was carpeted in a soft whitish blue, and there was another door just to Tom's right that he took to be the door to the en-suite bathroom for just the royal couple. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, many of the magical white orbs that gave off light within the castle hanging and shimmering on the chandelier that rose in a pattern like the flowing of water up a waterfall. There was also an oak desk with a rather grand chintz armchair set behind it. Along the wall next to it was another desk, except the set-up that went with it made it look more like it was for the queen to primp and pamper herself rather than work.

He took a few steps into the room when the door slowly closed behind him. Turning around when he heard the _click_ of the closing door, Tom looked at it in resignation.

"The door's locked isn't it?" he asked aloud to nobody in particular.

"Yes it is." Tom sighed and turned around at the sound of the voice that had called him in here. Standing in front of him was a young man of eighteen, who rather had the appearance of someone younger. He was rather normal in height at roughly five foot nine, but underneath the bulk of the hoodie he wore he was quite thin. His brown hair was cut very short and was covered by a blue cap with a logo for something called the 'Winnipeg Jets' on the front. A pair of black rectangular glasses was set over his blue eyes and narrow face. His legs were covered by a pair of blue jeans while he wore a pair of black and white running shoes. On his chest was a navy-blue hoodie with the words FACEY' 08 spelled out in blue and outlined in gold. A red poppy with a black centre was pinned just above the apostrophe at the end of FACEY. A black wristwatch was set on his right wrist and a ring made of white gold with a large sapphire resting in its middle rested on the ring finger of the young man's right hand. His clean-shaven lower jaw held a small frown of disapproval on it while his eyes surveyed Tom Marcinek.

"'Ello there Shire," Tom said. The young man's eyes did not shift from the look of dissatisfaction they held.

"Don't you 'ello, or 'allo me Tom, unless you're going to say ''Allo, 'Allo, this is Nighthawk. Are you receiving me? Over.' Because if you are, you're better actually like that show and follow through with the quote." The young man's frown shifted slightly to an amused smile before returning to what it had been before.

"Okay, then listen very carefully, I shall say this only once," Tom returned with a slight chuckle. "Why did you call me in 'ere then? And another question: why are you actually appearing within the story 'ere when you normally 'ang up in the clouds?"

"I'm actually down here because I need to talk to you," Shire Folk said, waving his hand towards the balcony doors. A small latch swung down to lock them and two silvery curtains closed over them to prevent anyone from possibly spying on them. The only light in the room now was that coming from the orbs perpetually moving within the chandelier, which was more than adequate. Tom swivelled as he heard footsteps near the door in the corridor outside.

"Don't worry about that," Shire Folk said, drawing up a seat in the armchair he quickly stole from behind the oak desk, taking his hat off and placing it on the desk beside him. "It's just Naminé and the princesses going into the den that's right next to this room and even has its balcony adjoining this one."

"Oh," Tom said, looking back at Shire Folk again. "Then what about Roxas and Squally?" Shire Folk laughed slightly at Tom calling Leon 'Squally'.

"Leon's going back to his campaign headquarters and Roxas is going to find King Mickey," Shire said.

"Why?"

"It's not your place to ask _me_ why," Shire said, flashing a warning look at Tom. "You want to know why he's going to find King Mickey, go and ask him yourself."

Tom shrugged. "Well I just figured that since you're the author and everything you'd be able to fill me in. 'Ell, why are you in the King's chair?"

Shire shrugged and smiled. "What? You want to know why I'm in the personal armchair of Radiant Garden's King, a chair that has been in existence for fifty and three hundred years since the building of this castle?"

Tom scratched his head. "Uh, yeah."

"The answer is simple," Shire Folk continued. "One: it's extremely comfy; two: I MADE THIS CHAIR!"

"But you're only eighteen," Tom said. "'Ow could you have made it?" The chest beside the bed suddenly flung open, and heavy chains burst out of it. Tom only had half a second to watch them come towards him before he found himself constricted and tightly bound by the chains.

"You know I can just magnetize these things and get 'em off me," Tom said dryly, even if he was in more than a bit of pain from the constricting force.

"No you can't," Shire Folk quickly answered, his original displeasure returning. "Those chains are made of a strengthened titanium-aluminium alloy. It is completely non-magnetic and far too strong for you to try destroying with your arm-blades. And don't even try teleporting, the room is completely sealed," Shire Folk added. "All that'll happen is that you'll smack your head directly into a wall at high velocity, probably killing you."

"You know I can come back to life," Tom reminded Shire Folk with a smirk. "One o' the good things about being me."

"So that means that one of the good things about being anyone else is that we can kill you as many times as we want without feeling remorse," Shire Folk smirked back. Tom's grin slipped off his face.

"Bugger, didn't think of that."

"Now listen Tom and listen well," Shire said, still from in his chair. "You can't go around making prophetic foreshadowing statements in an effort to reveal the plot to the other characters just because you think that you know everything because you come from outside of this story. You don't know everything. I'm the only all-powerful omnipotent hobbit here. Thessaura is never going to turn evil. Not now, not ever."

"But I'm not an 'obbit," Tom argued. "And neither are you."

"My penname is 'Shire Folk' so therefore, I am a hobbit," Shire Folk answered.

"That's flawed logic," Tom retorted.

"Want to know what else is flawed logic eh? How about this? Given the premise: 'All fish live underwater' and 'all mackerel are fish', George W. Bush would conclude, not that all mackerel live under water, but that if he bombs Iraq the world will love him, or that trout live in trees, or even that he can run the economy into the ground and no one will notice. This he calls being 'misunderestimated'. I call it bullshit, and I can say what I will against him without actually taking action because he is not a political leader in my own country even though his moronic decisions have adversely affected Canada."

"Wow," Tom said, still trying to struggle against his bonds. "You've got a real grudge."

"I don't know how he managed to get re-elected for a second term in office," Shire growled. "He's the worst president the States have ever had, opinion polls show that a good many citizens of the United States don't like him, but they probably voted for him anyway because of their stupid bipartisan system and would never vote for a democrat for as long as they lived to save their little republican lives."

"He's charismatic," Tom pointed out.

"Obama is charismatic," Shire was quick to retort. "Bush is a Texan who makes up new words that never existed that contradict what he wanted to say in the first place and can't string an intelligent sentence together. 'Misunderestimated'? Great job Bush, you coined a word that meant the exact same thing as estimated. Don't you know about double negatives you idiot?"

"So why am I still in chains?" Tom asked, suddenly switching the subject as the pressure against him tightened. Shire Folk flashed him a glare but the chains constricting the mutant lessened in their pressure.

"Because you questioned my power," he answered simply. "This chair, this castle, that chandelier, the defences just north of us, the world outside of the city, the Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Pantheon, Quintessence, the Wielders of Power, FIST, the Blitz Festival on Destiny Islands, the Thunder Blade, Hawk, Lioness, and Soldier nobodies, Aiwemon and Menelmon, Swara, the different political parties of Radiant Garden, Urophi Magellan, Kensworth and Helia, the _Starlight, Avenger, Unity, Egret, Ocean, Calypso, Judicator, Soyuz, Sleipnir, Enterprise, Hornet, Arizona, Nexus,_ even though none of those except _DCS Avenger_ are even built yet, they are all mine. _I_ created them. In this world, on these digital and real documents upon which I write, I am God. I am the Lord. And it is only through my mercy or anger in this universe which I have given myself the task of overseeing must I orchestrate the events that change the course of its history and the fate of our main characters. I have all the phenomenal cosmic powers of Genie except without the three rules. I can kill people, as I've already done. I can make people fall in love, which is in progress. And I can bring people back from the dead, Axel is case in point."

"But you, Tom," Shire Folk continued, "You are not mine. You belong to Mr Fipp, who has consented you the permission to wander through my version of this universe. And you aren't the only one. Xarcs and Xayn Shu both belong to DarthKingdom and the _Unity_ is the name of the ship in his fic. Since you do not belong to me Tom, I cannot actually kill you unless Mr Fipp gives me permission to do so. So consider yourself a welcome houseguest who is allowed to have a life here as long as he behaves himself. And maybe, just maybe, if you stop trying to give away plot points that don't exist solely for the point of confusing our main characters, I'll have Kairi set you up on a date with Jessica."

Tom's eyes beamed as the chains slowly undid themselves from around him and slithered back into the chest with many clinking noises. "Jess is here too?" he asked, his voice showing his elation. "She survived the attack you had Cossex make on Felra?"

Shire Folk smiled. "She was never on Felra. She lives on Dunash with her parents, goes to school completely oblivious of the events currently occurring in the worlds, and won't know a thing about them until the Blitz festival on October the twenty-seventh. Right now she's dating that jerk Lyle she dated before she met you in Fipp's work and doesn't even know you exist yet because in here you haven't met her."

"That bastard," Tom growled, his hands curling into fists at the mention of Lyle. "I'm glad I beat 'im up when he was 'arassing Jess at the mall."

"And you used pop cans to beat up his goon-like friends," Shire pointed out. Tom looked at him inquisitively.

"Pop?" he asked.

"Yah, pop. You know, Coke, Pepsi, Coke's better by the way, Gingerale, 7UP, Sprite, Root Beer, Iced Tea. You should know that it's called pop, you're a Brit. Well, you guys do call Iced Tea lemonade up in Scotland for some reason but still."

"I magnetized soda cans to beat up Lyle's friends," Tom insisted.

"No you used pop cans."

"Soda."

"Pop," Shire Folk said, more forcefully. "We are not about to go yet another spin-off of the 'Argument Clinic' sketch from Monty Python. I already did that last chapter between Timon and Pumbaa. It is POP!"

"Pop," Tom said, a glazed look coming over his face.

"Good," Shire Folk said, nodding with for once a pleased expression on his face. "Now, do you know who Jessica or Lyle are?"

Tom looked blankly at Shire Folk. "Who?"

"Very good," Shire said quietly. He held out his hand. "Alright then, off you go." Tom came forward and shook his hand.

"Pleasure working with you governor," Tom said, winking at him. "So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen adieu."

"Adieu, adieu, to you and you and you," Shire Folk continued. Tom gave him a queer look. "Don't start saying things from musicals in front of me unless you want me to get the musical or some other musical stuck in my head. I've got a thing for musicals that started because of my sisters, mom, and dad. The Legally Blonde one actually is not a bad musical no matter what people say." Tom shook his head and began to walk off.

He had taken fewer than four steps when he felt an invisible force yanking him backwards and into the air. He felt himself twisting around involuntarily and staring at Shire Folk, who had his right hand held out expectantly. He flipped it around and held it up for Tom to examine it, pointedly placing the third finger in front of Tom's face. Nothing seemed too remarkable, there wasn't any dirt or anything on his fingers, the only thing that could be gathered was that he was a little overdue for cutting his nails.

Nevertheless, Shire Folk returned his hand to its position of expecting something to fall into it and cleared his throat. Tom smiled sheepishly and placed his hands in the pockets of his trench coat and drew out the ring that had formerly rested on the young man's right hand.

"I swear I don't know 'ow it got in me pocket," Tom claimed, placing the ring on Shire Folk's hand. Swiftly the young man placed his grad ring back in its home on his right ring finger, glaring at Tom.

"I don't know how either," he admitted. "You'd have had to get it past the knuckle without me noticing, which is rather hard to do." He released Tom from the mystical hold he had put him in and the young British mutant thief started to walk away.

Shire Folk cleared his throat again and Tom stopped, sighing. He slowly drew a rectangular keychain out of his pocket and tossed it to Shire Folk, who caught the silver keychain with the two keys and string of black and silver beads attached to it.

"I wonder though," Tom asked. "What are the beads for?"

"They were a birthday present from my friend Katherine when she went to Greece during the summer while I was staffing in Cold Lake at the canteen as a sergeant," Shire Folk answered. "They're prayer beads that are supposed to ward off evil spirits."

"Do they work?" Tom asked. Shire Folk smiled.

"Maleficent hasn't appeared before me or tried to force me to do anything since I got them," was his answer. Tom nodded and opened the now unlocked door and left.

Shire Folk sighed, rubbing a hand through his very short hair. He stood from the chair he was still occupying and quickly grabbed his Winnipeg Jets hat. "It's not easy being the author sometimes," he said aloud, placing the hat on his head and pointing at the curtains (humming _How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?_ to himself), which opened once more to showcase the city of Radiant Garden in the Sun's shining light. He flipped the little hook that kept the doors to the balcony locked and opened them, being careful not to let himself stray too far that he could be seen from similar doors from the den where Naminé and the rest of the princesses of heart excluding Kairi were.

He looked out into the city and noticed the blue lights of engines from a gummi ship taking off.

"There goes the _Roadster_," he said to no one in particular, preferring more often to voice his thoughts aloud or at least whisper to himself in a stream of consciousness rather than use his inner monologue. "And with her, Anar, Isil, Kia, Jeffery, Tidus, Selphie, Wakka, Charlie, Hayner, Olette, Pence, Yazoo, Seipher, Fuu, Rai, and Vivi. All sent by King Mickey back to Twilight Town so they can join in Urophi's army from Twilight Town and begin their formal training. And soon the _Highwind_ will take off with Donald, Goofy, Max, and Roxas, screw what my timeline says, Roxas is going too because I don't have anything planned for him to do in the next couple of days apart from waiting for Kairi's trial and Saturday so he can go and pick up his brother. And tomorrow Roxas and Naminé and Riku are going to all be interviewed on a live edition of Wartime Battlewatch. Riku won't be happy about that. And then another ship piloted by Launchpad will leave with Roxanne and PJ today to take them back to Disney Castle. And while all of this is happening, Sora is being led around the Pride Lands by Timon and Pumbaa with Kiara in tow. And Kairi is going to be taken away to be interrogated by-" Shire Folk paused and looked slightly behind him, shifting his head to the right.

"Wait, why am I telling you guys this? I'm supposed to be writing it and you're supposed to be reading it!" Suddenly his back became a little bit straighter and both of his hands formed fists and came down to slide right next to the seams of his jeans. "Right then, myself only, dis-missed!" He turned to the right, pivoting on the heel of his right foot and the toe of his left, he held that position for half a second (the numbers 1-2-3 going through his head since he called the command), then brought his left leg up six inches before smartly bringing it down next to his right foot (1). He waited for another half second or so before marching five paces and halting (2-3-left-right-left-check-check-bang!).

He grinned to himself and shook his head, whispering quietly, "You know you've been in cadets too long when…" His corporeal form began to fade away when two birds suddenly landed on the balcony next to him. Shire Folk paused and looked at them.

"Menelmon, Aiwemon," he said in surprise. His face softened when he gazed at the two of them and bent down.

"How are our partners doing?" Menelmon asked. "Is Kairi okay?" Shire Folk sighed and tenderly wrapped his arms around Menelmon with Aiwemon watching from beside her.

"She's fine," he lied, comforting Menelmon. "Kairi's just fine. But I think you both should go and keep Naminé company. She's very worried and upset too." Menelmon and Aiwemon nodded and went over to the other door to the balcony. Shire Folk sighed and took his hat off, rubbing a hand over his hair again as his solid form finally faded away.

_Sometime's it's so hard being the author…_

-A-D-

Kairi had had a rather enjoyable lunch. Although both of her guards had ceased speaking to her due to their orders, Crysta Jenkins had been able to sneak out long enough to grab the book she had promised Kairi. But while Kairi was eating, she had been speaking to Marie Namis, rather loudly, about what the book itself was about. So Kairi was able to get herself a quite descriptive summary compared to what the back of the cover said without even asking.

"_No one could ever stop it now,_" the song on the radio played. "_Show the cards of the Gypsy town._"

Kairi bobbed her head in tune with _Sign of the Gypsy Queen_ by April Wine as it came into its chorus again while she lay on the mostly comfortable bed within her cell, the book positioned in her lap with the words prominently displayed on its pages. She understood now why it was that Sora loved eighties classic progressive rock more than anything else, and was confident that the song would be stuck in her head for quite some time.

All of a sudden the music stopped, as if somebody had flipped a switch on the radio. Kairi frowned at it, her attention waning from the book on her lap. There were two very loud _BANG_s behind her and the young princess whipped her head around to see both Jenkins and Namis standing rigidly still at attention while flanking her cell doors. Their spears were in their right hands with the other hand running along the left leg in a balled fist.

Kairi closed her book and placed it on the table near the bed, wondering anxiously just what it was that was coming. It had gone eerily quiet, and even the sound of her book slowly sliding across the table's top was unnaturally loud.

"What's going on?" she asked, her voice echoing back to her from across the stone walls.

The guards didn't answer her. It was at this point that Kairi came to the realization that they were not her guards. They were guarding her for the intention that she not escape from her cell and that nothing happen to her before the end of her trial. They weren't a personal bodyguard. Even though they did care about her and didn't want her to be prosecuted they were ordered not to care and to not question it.

Kairi slowly approached the bars of her cell, letting her eyes shift this way and that to get a look beyond the small confine of being forced to look forward that the stone walls before the bars granted her. Now she could turn her head and see down the hallway, use her peripheral vision to detect movement.

She didn't need to. Her eyes instantly turned as far towards the door she had entered the dungeons from the previous day as they could when it opened ominously, the iron ring on the wooden door clacking against it. She could hear people enter, but she was unable to see anything for two seconds until their shadows flickered onto the walls.

Two men had entered, but until they passed in front of Namis she was unable to get a good look at either of them. Both wore long black cloaks with hoods, but one had his hood up while the other left his hanging behind his neck. Of the one whose hood was up she was unable to tell anything apart from that he had a hooked nose that was visible under the shadow the hood cast on his face.

Of the other, Kairi could see than he was bald, and that alone was enough to creep her out, but the way his thin moustache curled into spirals right along his cheeks and the way his red irises leered coldly at her made Kairi take a couple of steps backwards. His bald head had a thin white scar running straight down from the right side of his forehead right into the middle of his black eyebrow, with another two white scars crisscrossing over each other on his left cheek. This man was more than intimidating, he was frightening.

Kairi took another step backwards as both men stopped in between the two guards that flanked the bars to her cell, and for once she was glad that there was that separation. She still couldn't see the face of the man with his hood up and she wondered if he was just as terrifying as his companion, but right now all Kairi knew was that she did not want to go with either of them.

"We are taking the prisoner to be interrogated," the hooded one said in a slow, drawling voice. "Unlock the cell for us ladies."

"Yes sir," Namis said, producing the keys and fitting them into the lock. Kairi heard it unlock with a loud and ill-boding ring, and she took one more step back until her back was against the curtain. The cell doors swung open inwards and Kairi tensed as the hooded figure raised a hand towards her.

"You will come with us," he said, his voice taking a crueller tone as the words came out as an order.

Kairi slightly shook her head, her eyes flickering back to the other man, whose watch had never wavered from her. "I'd rather not..."

The other man's mouth twitched into a slight smirk, but it was there for such a short amount of time Kairi was sure she imagined it. "You _will_ come with us, princess!" the hooded man continued, a little more anger being siphoned into his drawl as he spat her title. "We can do this either the easy way…" he paused and glanced at his partner from underneath his hood, "or we can do it the hard way."

Kairi still didn't move. She didn't like the feel of this. Both of these men felt far too… dark at present for her to willingly go with them. And the tiny chuckle she'd heard the hooded man give when speaking of the hard way was more than a little unnerving when she was already intimidated by them.

The hooded man nodded at his companion, who let his smile come through. Quickly they both took two long paces into her cell and roughly grabbed Kairi's forearms. She tried to struggle for a brief moment, but they both proved too powerful for her as they dragged her out of her cell. Jenkins and Namis' faces were impassive and completely neutral as Kairi was taken past them and to the door on the side.

"Let go of me," Kairi pleaded, the fingers of both men digging into the skin of her arms as the booming sound of the slamming door echoed through the corridors.

"No princess," the hooded man said quickly and agitatedly. "You refused to come with us willingly, so now we must do it the only way we can be sure that you will accompany us."

Still Kairi resisted, the grip each of them held on her arms hurting her. However even if they hadn't been so forceful she still would have resisted their pull; Kairi really didn't like the feel either of these men gave her. The one who had his hood down still hadn't spoken a word, and Kairi was no longer sure if he was a mute or simply holding his speech for another time.

They turned from the corridor they were in to another one that was barred by a thick metal door. This one was more dimly lit, and it gave Kairi a foreboding feeling as she was led into it, the only light coming from flaming torches held in brackets that clawed at the stone walls like the hands of grasping demons.

Kairi pulled back even harder against the towing power of the two men. Her challenge was more than doubled by both as their grip tightened and they heaved her frame in front of them as if her body weighed nothing at all. Kairi paused in surprise for a second, but the surprise was erased almost immediately as a slight gasp of pain slipped past her lips when her arms were wrung behind her back. The joints to her shoulders were twisted painfully as the men weaved her arms into places they should not physically go of anyone's free will.

"Stop struggling or we'll make this hurt even more," the hooded man growled, unable to keep a note of pleasure from entering his voice. Kairi felt sickened as she heard him speak to her and she knew that now no matter what she did they would still hurt her now that they were away from any possibly prying eyes.

Her fears were proven true when the other man kicked her in the back of her right knee, knocking her leg out from under her. As Kairi fell the hold on her arms was released, allowing her to strike the cold stone floor with as much force as possible.

"Get up, little orphan bitch," snarled the hooded man, reaching down and grasping the back of Kairi's neck to pull her back to her feet. The other man twisted her arms behind the young princess' back again and together with his companion frog-marched her down the corridor, kicking at the back of her legs occasionally to make her stumble.

The bald man opened a door to her right and Kairi found herself being shoved into the door, her shoulders connecting with it before stumbling past it into the room gasping for breath and feeling her neck for bruises from the hooded man's grip. The room was small and the area in front of her was very brightly lit. A rectangular metal table was bolted to the ground with a metal chair on one side and a half-way decent wooden chair on the side closest to her, and there were vents in the ceiling.

The metal door slammed shut behind her and Kairi saw that the bald man was still in the room with her. There was a small window near the top of the door, and the hooded man was still outside speaking to his bald companion through it while the hooded man bolted the door closed from the outside.

"Take all the time you need," said the hooded man quietly in his slow drawl. "Make her squeal. Just make sure she understands our position on her, and you are _not_ allowed to do anything you wish to her. Keep it reasonably clean. Understand?"

The bald man nodded, and for once he spoke. His voice was a little scratchy, as if unused for a while, but other than that it sounded like it could be both very nice and pleasant, but also hard and cruel if it had to be. "Yes Carl. I understand."

"Good," 'Carl' said, leaving. The bald man slammed shut the small metal slide for the window in the door and turned to Kairi, who had only taken a single step backwards and had an anxious look on her face. Of all the times she'd been captive before this was the most frightening and disheartening, even more so than when she and Sora had both been captured and held in the dungeons of The Castle That Never Was. She hadn't quite heard their whispered conversation, but it couldn't have sounded good for her.

"Sit," the man ordered, pointing at the metal chair opposite the table.

Kairi refused to move, staring at him with a mixture of poorly concealed anger and fear.

-A-D-

_Like I said myself in the chapter, sometimes it's hard to be the author. So keeping in tune with that, I'm also going to leave you guys hanging here since I haven't ended on a somewhat cliff-hanger for a while and want to keep you hooked and baited._

_And also, I've written and posted a oneshot Halloween fic titled __**Halloween Moves**__. Check it out and leave a review if you wan or haven't already._

_90 years ago today, an armistice was signed between the powers of Imperial Germany, Great Britain, France, the United States of America, and the other Allied Powers. On the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, The Great War, the War To End All Wars, the world's bloodiest conflict was ended. Millions perished in the fighting, and tens of thousands more died afterwards of wounds or ailments suffered from the battlefields of war-torn France and Russia. It was supposed to end there, but the second global conflict truly began in 1931, with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. The League of Nations, too weak and poorly led to stop them or the German advance throughout the 30s, allowed the road to open for a second World War. After another five years of bloody conflict beginning with Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939, millions more brave servicemen and women and civilians lay dead upon the fields of Europe, Africa, and Asia, and fallen on the shores and seas of the islands in the vast oceans. That conflict should have proven to us how ultimately diabolical and tragic war was. The battlefield had lost its romantic affair and chivalry and glory were all but gone. Peace was achieved, but at a terrible cost. Yet still our brave men and women don the uniform and go off to try and bring peace to the lands where peace has been but a dream. Ninety long years have passed since the Great War. Ninety long years since the development of my country that gained its identity through that horrendous conflict. Ninety years since it actually began to mean something to be Canadian. Today we remember our fallen, in __**Remembrance Day**__. Take two minutes today to think and remember those who came before you, those who died so that you could be free._

_**We Will Remember Them**_

_Shire Folk_


	20. Interrogation

_I got an anonymous review for the previous chapter, saying that my political rant ruined the entire chapter and that it could have offended someone. Well, 'chuck', I humbly ask you to step out of the shadows and leave a signed review so that we can commence in arguing or debating about this, or better yet, we can just go at it on my forums that nobody seems to be using, even me! I've now placed a politics section on there, where a good deal of my political rants shall be constrained to from this point forward._

_However, I would like to say here and now that if anyone actually __**was**__ offended to my Bush bashing, __**I do not apologize for my own views.**__ I did a self-insert, showing how __**I**__ feel. You can dispute me all you want, but I will not relinquish my position unless thoroughly convinced otherwise. Once again, if you wish to try and prove me wrong, or argue or debate with me on the issue or other current events issues of the day including the environment, Canadian politics, the economy, or just anything happening in the world or where you live, we can discuss in the 'politics' topic within my forum._

_Oh, and by the way, if you want to read a story that is one thousand times better than mine (that is, if you aren't a fan of constant action but prefer character development, love triangles, friends unintentionally hurting one another, Anti-form, and more than enough adrenaline to make you think that you're either watching a thriller or horror movie or having a heart attack) then __**You Don't Miss It 'Till It's Gone**__ is right for you._

_Disclaimer: The termites, chainsaw and everything else were not enough. If only I had Malcolm, he solves all his problems with a chainsaw… Anyways, I do not own Kingdom Hearts, or Disney, Final Fantasy, or Peter Pan._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter XX: Interrogation

The bald man eyed Kairi curiously as she stubbornly continued to resist against him. Surely the princess was smart enough to realize that she was beyond outside help here? And just as surely she wouldn't dare try to attack him and escape; that would only put her into further trouble.

Although if she did attack him and attempt to escape the princess would be unknowingly helping his underlying cause. At the same time she would be helping his case against her.

"Sit," he ordered again, pointing a little more insistently at the chair he had previously indicated. The princess, Kairi Talerith, only took one shuffling step backwards, more towards a back corner of the room than moving around the table. He could tell by her facial expressions that she was scared of him, or at least he hoped she was scared of him, and that she was also feeling a fair amount of anger. He could understand why of course. He'd be angry too if someone was kicking at him while he was immobilized.

However he didn't like being disobeyed, and he especially didn't like being disobeyed by a little warrior princess who was getting a little too uppity in the grand scheme of things.

He saw her tense as he quickly strode towards her and grabbed her arm again. She really didn't weigh that much he realized, something only close to maybe a hundred and twenty pounds, and she was also pretty small at possibly five feet and seven, maybe seven and three quarters or eight, inches tall. He almost smiled as he thought just how much bigger and stronger he was than her at six feet and three inches and one hundred and ninety-three pounds.

Not caring to be gentle, he forcibly brought the young princess over to the side of the table he wanted her on and let her go directly beside the chair's right side.

"Sit," he said for a third time, getting rather tired of uttering the same word to her. Kairi stayed standing for a further two seconds and he glowered down on her. Then slowly, the princess sat down while looking at him in a newfound acceptance.

_Good_, the man thought. _Maybe we'll actually achieve something through this._

He slowly paced his way to the other side of the room, keeping an eye on the auburn-haired princess. He knew that more of the light from the single ceiling light was directed onto the side of the table where Kairi was currently sitting than where he was pacing, so her eyes would begin to sting and he'd be cast into relative shadow in her eyes. But still the girl's eyes were following him in confusion. He supposed that they were confused because he hadn't done anything yet apart from telling her to sit three times and actually getting her to sit down.

_No need to alleviate her confusion_, he thought. _Carl did say that I could take as much time as I wanted so long as I didn't do anything too inappropriate_.

He slowly paced in front of the door a few times, always watching the sixteen year old princess for any sign of weakness. But in the time that she'd since sat down on the chair the acceptance that she had initially shown, which then changed to confusion, was now slowly shifting into defiance.

_Defiance huh?_ Over the time he'd spend with her today he'd see just how defiant she was.

He stopped moving and placed his back against the door and calmly began to study her with a slight smirk on his face. He recognized that she was quite pretty, and that the pink of her dress overtop of the white halter-top she wore underneath suited her and her auburn hair quite well. The indigo of her eyes was also a stunning compliment to her complexion. He had a definite eye for colour, and figured that in the eyes of her lover, that dratted keyblade master Sora, the princess stubbornly existing in front of him would be exceptionally beautiful.

He nearly gagged inside. Love can blind people so much towards someone's faults. Kairi's looks had no faults that he could see, except that the skin on her cheeks was a greater shade of red than it should have been. Her faults were inside her very name and being. She should not even exist, and neither should her despicable _sister_ (if he could even call one who used to be a nobody a sister to the princess) for that matter.

For fifteen minutes he continually surveyed the princess, and for an equal amount of time she quietly and unflinchingly met his gaze, her breathing somewhat heavy as if she was forcibly reminding herself to breathe or to keep something that was buried within her from spilling out. He could see the muscles in her arm twitching occasionally, and he knew that she was probably dying to call her weapon to her hands.

His smile twitched slightly every time he saw that tiny spasm. Too bad for her that her mystical weapon would never come to her and her magic was completely reduced to shreds within this room. He had no need to be scared of her, but she had every right to be scared of him. In here any abilities she might inherently gain from being a wielder of the keyblade: superior strength she should not possess, faster reflexes, heightened senses, slowing down of time in order to make life-saving decisions, anything inhuman was removed, leaving an average sixteen year old girl vs. him.

The silent surveying of each other continued for another full five minutes before the man finally broke it. Turning to his side, he flipped open a concealed panel and pressed a hidden red button. "A pitcher of water, two glasses, and a box of doughnuts," he said. Releasing the button from the pressure of his thumb, he flicked the panel back down, turning to look towards the princess again.

"I'm not going to tell you anything," she said defiantly, still staring at him with the same eyes that that been watching him for the last twenty-one minutes. "So you can forget about trying to tease and temp me."

The man unfolded his arms and held them out to his sides in amusement. "Now why would I do that? They're for you anyway, so why should I keep them from you." Kairi eyed him suspiciously and he smiled. It was good that she had some sense in her. What person in their right mind would whole-heartedly eat or drink something offered to them by one who could be perceived as an enemy?

However she was not an enemy to him, not yet. Right now the princess was an annoying and pesky thorn in his side, because either she or her sister would inherit the throne on their nineteenth birthday, become Queen, and have total control over his world. The princess herself had presented them with an unexpectedly marvelous opportunity to disown her, or at least force her to abdicate her right to the throne. If all went according to plan, the trial would be over and done with before the stupid keyblade master could return with his legendary weapon, and the girl in front of him would be nothing more than a princess of heart who wielded the keyblade instead of a princess of heart who wielded the keyblade _and_ was a legitimate heir to Radiant Garden's throne.

And there would then be nothing that anyone could do about it, which would make this victory all the sweeter.

But, even if they did fail at this opportunity, he knew that victory would be his eventually. Sora, while a keyblade master, was certainly no prince. And by Royal Law of Radiant Garden, princesses and princes had to marry those equal to their station, other princesses and princes. This had, historically, given the courting and dating scene for the young royals rather slim pickings to choose from, ever since the Talerith family had been able to unite the warring kingdoms into a single kingdom nigh on two-hundred years ago, leaving the Talerith family with the only princes and princesses on the world. Since incest and inbreeding was something that was very undesirable, the occasional son or daughter of a prestigious noble, lord, or earl had to be accepted into the fold, however the number of cousins from true 'royal' blood that had created caused many of the children of these marriages to also become princes and princesses, leaving the choices for elopement even slimmer.

This was mostly solved when a member of the large royal household found themselves a wielder of the keyblade; and the eyes of the people turned to the stars that they finally understood were other worlds. With the arrival of the keyblade came the knowledge of the other worlds and other kingdoms amongst the stars, other princes and princesses for the royals to marry to ensure that the bloodline did not fail. But ten years ago, when that blessed assassin struck and the meteor shower occurred, many had believed that that bloodline had at last failed and that the entire line was wiped cleanly off the face of the universe. The keyblade war nine years previous to the assassin had claimed the lives of all who lived off of Radiant Garden who could have had claim to its throne, and a fair number of the nobles and royalty that lived on world died as well, with the assassin striking the final blow just when it looked like things were starting to recover with the two young children Raifeor and Kairi. None had known that Kairi had survived except for Ansem the Wise, and he had kept very tight-lipped on the subject apart from mentioning that the young princess had been drowned to alleviate suspicion. But then his apprentices led by Xehanort took over much later before abandoning the world to Maleficent, who changed its name to Hollow Bastion and broke the world and its vast kingdom, leaving it in the dust and changing their castle to suit her needs, even having the audacity to build a _second_ castle for herself. With many people turned to heartless or having fled the world from Maleficent's take-over, the monarchy was the furthest thing from their minds.

But after the defeat of Maleficent and Xehanort at Sora's hands and the return of some of the people and beginning restoration of the world, talk began to circulate again as to just how they were going to be led. The Restoration Committee led by Squall Leonhart (no matter how many times he tried to tell people he now called himself Leon) had done a fine job, but it was an oligarchy that held all the power and could have led them back into darkness without the say of the people. It was a massive victory for the bald man and the followers below and above him when there came the announcement of a democratic government.

So it was a major setback to the man when the world found out that Princess Kairi was alive and safe after ten years. Well, she hadn't exactly been _safe_, but she was at least alive and well. As soon as the world knew, doubts immediately began to surface concerning the democratic system that was in place. It took a long time to get anything important done or settled without many seemingly pointless debates or arguments, the government was bitterly divided, and the citizens were unused to the entire idea of having a say or choice in how their lives were run. With the truth about the princess known, and the sudden appearance and story about Naminé, making her a _second_ princess, more attention was beginning to be drawn towards that empty throne room at the top of the castle.

It disturbed the man that the people were willing to be led by a single person to possible oblivion like mindless sheep, and he and his friends and colleagues had searched for any way that they could prevent either girl from taking the throne and getting rid of parliament. Throughout it all though, you could trace the Princess', Kairi's, ancestry all the way through in a solid line of purely Radiant Garden royal blood. There was no doubting that she and Naminé were completely legitimate heirs to the throne.

There was still that hopeful bid that the people and parliament would not consent to allowing their princesses to marry the two keyblade masters because they were not princes. As the last remaining members of the line, they would be forced to marry others that did not captivate their hearts the way Sora and Roxas apparently did. With luck, both would abdicate in order to be with those that they loved.

That was their fallback for the moment in case this chance at getting one to abdicate now failed. Love could so blind people to what was important.

Throughout the man's entire relapse through the events that brought him up to now he and Kairi continued to mutely stare at each other, Kairi's gaze still revealing her distrust and suspicion of him. The muscles in her left arm were clenching, and the man smiled, seeing that clench aga-

His smile slipped off his face as his lips curled in a frown. The muscles of her right arm had been the ones to clench before; never her left. The princess was right handed, fought with both hands on her keyblade while favouring the right and able to use the keyblade effectively with only her right hand should the situation arise. Her left arm should _not_ be the one that was clenching. She was holding something in that hand, that much he was certain. He dimly registered that the right was also clenched, but he dismissed the notion that all she could be doing was squeezing her hands into tight, tiny fists.

The mask of confusion the princess wore faded away into surprise and fear as he began to quickly stride towards the side of the table. He knew that this was the first somewhat aggressive move he had made since he got her to sit down, and he inwardly took pleasure that she was frightened of his appearance.

"What are you hiding?" he snapped, rounding the edge of the table and looking down towards the princess' two arms, each on one of her legs. Kairi tried to quickly hide the objects underneath her legs, but it was too late for her, he'd already seen them. In her left hand, fist, there had lain a small, blue rubber ball, and in the right, a pink crown pendant.

"What were those?" he asked heatedly, taking a step closer to her as she sat on the chair. He marveled at how quickly Kairi was able to get off of her chair onto the side opposite him and place both objects into the little black purse that hung off of her left hip.

"Nothing," the princess replied quickly, a telling blush coming to her cheeks.

The man raised an eyebrow. "They didn't look like nothing to me." He nearly chuckled at the look on the young princess' face. The tone of voice he had used had shifted. Where before he had used a tone that suggested he was angry, this time he carefully made it sound like he was amused.

A knock came on the steel door and the bald man turned away from the nervous princess and went to it, knowing that her eyes were following him. Opened the window in the door and told the person outside to enter. There came the sound of the bolt easing from its clasp and the door swung open, allowing a figure wearing a black cloak similar to his with the hood up, casting the face into shadow, to enter. The person carried a metal pitcher of water in one hand, while there was a box of doughnuts with the lid down and two glasses set on top of the box set precariously under his arm. The bald man took both and thanked the figure with a nod before retreating into the room. Without looking at Kairi while the sound of the bolt locking behind the door stole throughout the room once more, he carried them over to the metal table and placed them down. He set the pitcher and box of doughnuts directly in the middle of the table on opposite sides of each of the chairs, and then took the glasses off the top of the doughnut box and placed them in their proper place in front of each chair, to the right, just above the tip of where the knife would be had there been a knife.

He flipped the doughnut box open and quickly did a check on the dozen there were in there, already mentally selecting the one he'd take in order to convince Kairi that they were safe to eat, which they all were. Instead of reaching for the doughnut his hand strayed towards the water pitcher and his glass.

"Sit," he said for a fourth time, pouring himself the water. He had been clever when he said that too, implying that it was more of a request than any previous time he had uttered that word. The princess obeyed and sat down, eyeing the doughnuts suspiciously still.

"I just ate lunch just over an hour ago," she said, her indigo eyes flicking up to look at him.

"You'll eat them soon enough," he replied, removing the glass from his mouth. "You aren't getting fed dinner tonight." With that thought he placed his glass down and his hand reached out and picked up the apple fritter he'd selected. He observed Kairi eyeing him as he bit into it and began to chew. He threw in a couple gestures showing his pleasure or pleasant surprise at the flavour of the pastry while he delayed swallowing for as long as possible. Once he had though, Kairi's hand slowly reached out and grabbed one that was filled with strawberry jam and topped with white icing.

He smiled as he took another bite of his apple fritter. He was slowly wearing down her defences; soon he would lash out at her with all the fury he held within for her existence and privilege.

"Good?" he asked, motioning towards the doughnut in her hand and the slight dribble of red jam running down her chin. Kairi nodded slightly but said nothing while she wiped the jam off of her chin and sucked it off her finger. The bald man sat down on the chair opposite Kairi and took another draught from his water glass before pouring Kairi one from the pitcher.

"I wonder if you could tell me," he began slowly, drawing Kairi's eyes to him again, "exactly what those items were that you were holding."

He smiled pleasantly at Kairi as he placed the pitcher back exactly where he had first put it down, and took another bite of his apple fritter. They were _quite_ good this time.

Kairi waited through another bite, chewing run, and swallow of her jam-filled morsel before answering hesitantly. "They were birthday presents."

"Oh, who from?" the man asked, keeping up his pleasantries. "And I suppose you're sixteen now then? Correct?"

_Sixteen year old royal Princess bitch of a Queen bitch!_

"Yes I'm now sixteen," Kairi answered, nodding her head. "And they were from my best friends Sora and Riku."

"Don't you mean lover Sora and best friend Riku?" he asked, not allowing any of his anger to surface in his words but preferring to keep a tone of sincere interest. The princess flushed a brighter crimson than the strawberry jam that was brightly illuminated by the lighting.

"N-no," she stuttered over her words and the man could tell it was from both anger and embarrassment. He deducted that, no, nothing had happened between her and Sora and the princess was still pure. However the way her cheeks were enflamed could possibly indicate that she had been having private thoughts along those lines between herself and the keyblade master.

"Sora's just my boyfriend," Kairi continued, her voice losing its inconsistencies as she found words. "He's not my lover at all."

"Yet you are in love with him and he is in love with you," he countered quickly. "So despite whatever particular meaning that word has taken, you are both lovers. Lovers in a dangerous time it would seem."

He smiled and allowed himself to chuckle slightly at seeing the princess' flustered face as she contemplated that.

_No, you are not a filthy whore yet, my_ dear_ princess._

"So what did they get you?" the man continued, keeping all his anger and thoughts to himself for the time being.

"Well Sora got me a crown pendant like his that was crafted with pinkish metal and engraved with more proof that he loved me, and Riku got me a stress ball," answered Kairi, her face still red from the previous embarrassment.

"I assume you've been using the stress ball recently," the man said lightly before taking another bite from his apple fritter. Kairi nodded and she even giggled slightly.

"Yes," answered the princess.

_Oh how I'd love to shove that little ball down your throat._

He'd only seen her face happy this once, this one time, and already he knew that she was so pretty and naïve that it sickened him to think that this prodigy would one day rule over him.

Not if he had anything to say about it.

He finished his doughnut quickly with another two bites and swallowed, ignoring the pain in his throat from swallowing chunks that were too big and not meant to travel down the confines of his esophagus. No matter, it was only pastry; it could squeeze down.

He allowed his demeanor to revert completely to what it had been when he was bringing the girl down here with Carl, the head of his Anti-Monarchist party. His red eyes became as fiery as a volcano while the scars on his face gleamed as cold as ice.

He smiled as he saw the princess recoil slightly in shock and horror at his change once more. He'd been playing this game for a long time, and knew exactly how to bait and interrogate. He'd caught her with her guard down, now he'd unleash upon her.

-A-D-

Four short hours later the man left the room, examining the knuckles and skin on the back and palms of his bare hands. The skin had turned quite red, and there were a few more red splotches that had turned magenta on the hem of his long cloak. The man whose hood had been up and had dragged the princess down here with him was waiting for him outside in the dark and dimly lit hall. His hood was down now, and he could see all of the man's face. He had a hooked nose and vivid green eyes set underneath two curtains of dusty brown hair and his skin was a pale and creamy white.

"Fred," the hooked nose man said, nodding at him.

"Carl," replied the bald man.

"So," Carl continued. "How did it go?" Fred laughed.

"I think she understands how much the AMRGP dislikes her and her sister now," he said. "Apart from that it was _fantastical_! I even had time to scarf down three doughnuts and four glasses of water while she cowered in a corner crying, probably in her head wishing that her precious keyblade master or good-for-nothing sister or platinum-haired best friend could come and save her."

"I wouldn't have thought that she'd actually cry," Carl said, frowning at the metal door from whence Fred had come.

The bald man snorted. "Everyone breaks eventually. I think we'll send her back to her cell with its creature comforts in about two more hours eh? Leave her some time alone in here to think about how wrong it is for her to even exist." Carl's eyes followed him as Fred continued to walk down the corridor.

"Is that blood on your cloak?" he asked.

"Her leg started to bleed a little when I kicked it," was Fred's answer.

-A-D-

Jeffery grumbled as he leaned against a wall in the gummi ship King Mickey had sent him and his friends and the people from Twilight Town back in. He partially understood why The King did what he did, after all, he had been gone several days longer than he said he would be gone and his parents were sure to be worried sick (he was sure that they would have thought him to be hurt in the battle with those soldiers). But he still didn't appreciate the way The King sent them all off.

"_Don't worry about Kairi, she'll be alright,"_ King Mickey had said. _"What's important right now is that you all return to Twilight Town now so that you can join Twilight Town's army to help us out as soon as possible."_

Jeffery sighed agitatedly while he continued to sit aboard the _Roadster_. He wanted to help fight now. The touch and go battle against those soldiers back in the streets of Radiant Garden had filled him with the taste of battle, a greater taste then the one he had gained when he fought against heartless in The Castle That Never Was. The taste had been bitter, he would admit, and upon reflection he had realized he had been terrified, but ever since the loss of his home on Destiny Islands he'd never felt such an adrenaline rush before. He'd never come so close to grips with how it felt to be alive as it did when he emerged from the smoke and steam of his own fireballs in that cold and hazy rain to find that he had made it through again unscathed.

He wanted to fight. By the Gods he wanted to fight now! Maleficent and her heartless had taken his home and many of his friends from him. He wanted her to pay for that.

But he also trusted King Mickey's judgment. It was that small monarch that had helped Sora save the worlds twice, and King Mickey had much more experience than he did. It just frustrated him that King Mickey seemed to feel that Maleficent would now hide in the shadows and not strike for some time. He didn't understand why she would. She had the upper hand, every card. Sora was off trying to get the keyblade back, Kairi was being imprisoned for trying to surrender to her, all the princesses of heart were together on one world, and there was practically nothing any of them could do to stop her if the sorceress unleashed her hordes. If he were her, he'd have spearheaded his entire army straight for Radiant Garden and then attacked everywhere else, or he would have made a massive sweep to a hundred worlds, effectively forcing everyone to split up to even try and cope, and then send a large force to Radiant Garden before anyone could get back in time to defend it.

Jeffery lurched off of his back as the ship violently bucked. Pushing himself off of the floor with his ebony hands he straightened up and looked down the hall towards the _Roadster_'s cockpit.

"Who's flying this damn thing yah?" Wakka asked angrily, rubbing a hand across his updraft waft of ginger hair.

"I think it's Hayner," Tidus said, wincing as he got up. Both Tidus and Wakka had been talking quietly in the same corridor that Jeffery had been moping in.

Jeffery's eyes widened at the same time Tidus' and Wakka's did. The three looked frantically at each other.

"Who let _Hayner_ try piloting the ship?" Jeffery gasped, already turning to rush towards the cockpit. Tidus and Wakka were right behind him. He didn't even know if Hayner had even _seen_ the controls for a gummi ship before, much less handled one.

They needn't have worried however. As soon as they entered the cockpit they saw Hayner standing, cornered with an apologetic grin, by a circle of what could only be taken as miffed persons while Fuu took control of the ship.

Jeff's blue eyes snapped towards Fuu as she sat down in the pilot's chair. Since when did Fuu know how to fly gummi ships? Actually there were two pilot's chairs, the ship apparently needing a copilot as well as an actual pilot. There were also other consoles on the bridge for communications, scanning, and secondary weapons, but none of these were being manned.

In the copilot's chair sat Yazoo, who calmly watched Hayner being cornered. "Don't let him near the controls again," was all he said as Fuu buckled into the pilot's seat. He glanced at Fujin, "Can you fly a gummi ship?"

Fuu answered him with a five-second long glare from her red irises. Yazoo shrugged and turned back to what he was doing.

"Faster," Fuu said, throttling up on the controls.

"We cannot go much faster," Yazoo pointed out calmly, throttling down. "The ship is too big to go that fast. A slower pace would be better."

"Speed is better," Fuu returned, glaring at him again and bringing their speed back down.

Jeffery calmly watched as the pilot and copilot continued back and forth increasing and decreasing the _Roadster_'s speed. He'd never seen Fuu so concentrated on something before, but then, he and the others had never spent too much time with Seifer's gang before.

"Hey guys," Pence said, walking in. He took one look at a cornered Hayner, and then glanced at the two silent but bickering pilots. Slowly, and scratching his black hair in confusion, he came up to Jeffery. "Did I miss something?"

"Hayner was piloting," Jeff said calmly, "then he jinked the ship or something, and now both Fuu and Yazoo are arguing the best way to fly the ship. Fuu likes to go fast, surprisingly, and Yazoo thinks we should go slower."

"Ah," Pence replied, a little weakly. "So that explains why my stomach is acting up a little. Not really the early birthday present I had been hoping for." Jeff's clear blue eyes flicked towards the ring around Hayner as Seifer broke out of it and approached Yazoo and Fujin.

"Hey Yaz," he said sharply. "Let her fly the damned ship so that we can get back home. The King told us to go back, so we're going back, and I'd like this trip to be over as soon as possible."

Jeffery saw Fuu's pale cheeks gain the very slightest hint of red as she smirked at Yazoo and throttled the _Roadster_ up again.

_Is everyone going to have a love interest?_ He thought to himself, glancing at Hayner, and indirectly at Olette and Kia and Anar as the latter three glowered at him for his poor piloting. He could see that there was something beginning between Hayner and Olette (Hayner couldn't exactly shut himself up in his excitement for finally asking Olette out), Tidus was stuck in a love triangle between himself, Selphie and Yuna, Jeff saw the way Anar and Kia glanced at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking, and now Seifer and Fuu. There was more than enough unspoken romance on this ship to make him either gag teasingly or smile at their happiness.

Well Tidus wasn't exactly happy about his position… Yuna would probably try to kill him if she found out he liked Selphie.

Jeff turned back towards Pence again. "Early birthday present?" he asked.

"Yeah," Pence said, excitement creeping into his voice. "I turn sixteen tomorrow."

"Congrats," said Jeff, extending his hand. "You're older then Sora."

"Thanks," Pence replied. "When's your birthday by the way?"

"Oh I'll be sixteen next January eighth," Jeff said. "Can't wait; sweet sixteen and all."

Pence snorted slightly. "Yeah, my sweet sixteen is that I get to enlist into the forces for a war."

"It's your choice," Jeffery answered after a pause. "She hasn't taken anything from you. There's no reason for you to take part in this war."

"No Jeff, the heartless and nobodies haven't taken anything from me," Pence returned, his voice causing Jeffery to look at his eyes, "but they've taken a lot from my friends and really hurt those I care about. I can't just stop myself from doing the right thing even though it may cost me my life in the end."

"A lot of good people have died or been taken already Pence," Jeff answered.

"And so will a lot more before this is over," Pence retorted hardly. "And I'd rather take as many of them down with me if I end up being one of those unlucky ones. Besides," he glanced at Hayner, who had managed to worm his way out of the ring around him, "there's no way Hayner would be able to do this by himself. We need to watch his back more than our own, or he could grow a third eye or something."

Jeff laughed.

-A-D-

It was into the early evening when the _Highwind_ reached Neverland, Donald, Goofy, Max, and Roxas onboard the ship.

"Gawrsh Donald do you really think Peter's here?" Goofy asked his feathered companion. "I mean, Sora did say that he had become a lot older."

"Never mind that Goofy," Donald replied. "We have a really serious problem and it's only been a few days since Sora, Kairi, and Max left Neverland last time."

Max coughed. "It's been a few _weeks_ Donald since we left Neverland, almost a month actually."

Donald waved him off. "That much time couldn't have passed," he said indifferently.

"We found out when we first arrived that five days made a year," Roxas answered. Donald froze and slowly looked up at Roxas, who had his face scrunched up while he was thinking. "Let's see, we left Neverland on… August the… twenty-ninth? Yeah, twenty-ninth. And today is September the twenty-fourth. So if we end up going by what we already established, roughly five years more will have passed since we left Neverland."

"Five years?" Goofy asked.

"You know, that would actually make Jack and Maggie teenagers, or at least pre-teens now," Roxas said in surprise. He quickly shuddered. "I do not want to imagine a teenage Jack."

"Only one way to find out," Donald jabbered, raising a finger into the air. "To the teleporter!"

"Let's just hope we don't freak everyone out," Roxas mumbled under his breath, his cape swishing behind him as he turned to follow Donald and Goofy.

"I don't think so Roxas," Goofy said. "I'm pretty sure Peter will recognize us, ahyuk"

"Oh yeah," Roxas said, smiling and nodding. "There's no way anyone could forget the way you two look."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Donald said slowly, looking suspiciously at Roxas. He sniggered.

When the four of them teleported down they found themselves standing in a street directly outside of a house. Roxas did a quick look around and could not see the clock tower that was Big Ben. So they were not in London anymore. Why?

Roxas turned around and looked at the house they were standing in front of, and quickly recognized that it was not the one Sora and Kairi had stood in front of nearly a month previous when they arrived here the first time. Roxas frowned. It had been roughly Christmas time last time, so why did it feel and look like it was just the beginning of fall?

"Do you know where we are Goofy?" Donald asked, looking around.

"I'm not so sure Donald," said Goofy. "But I can't see the big old clock where the keyhole is." Goofy pointed towards where he thought Big Ben should have stood and Donald nodded quickly and repeatedly. Goofy looked in front of him at the house Roxas was staring at.

"Maybe the people in here could tell us where we are Donald," he said cheerfully, moving past Roxas to go towards the door. Roxas snapped out of his train of thought and quickly beat Goofy to the door.

"Maybe it would be best if they saw me first," Roxas said. Donald tapped his webbed foot impatiently as he stood on the stoop next to Goofy. Max folded his arms and waited just behind his father. Roxas blushed and took the hint, ringing the doorbell.

The four of them waited for a few seconds, and everyone but Roxas were able to hear the sound of someone's pounding feet in front of the door. It swung open and Roxas was surprised to see a young boy with short brown hair wearing a blue baseball hat. The boy was apparently surprised too and stopped in his tracks upon seeing Roxas.

"Sora?" he asked. He then quickly shook his head. "No, you're not Sora, but I have seen you before. You were fighting pirates with my dad in Neverland."

Roxas smiled despite his confusion that Jack still looked much the same as he had the last time he was here. "Yes I was," he replied. "We were never introduced before, but you were close when you said my twin brother's name."

Jack took a step back. "Sora's twin?" Roxas rolled his eyes.

"Well, I used to be his Nobody, but ever since I got my own body I've, well, become the twin brother he never had instead of the annoying voice in his head." Jack looked at him in confusion for a second before a voice called to him from inside the house.

"Jack," asked a man, the sound of approaching footsteps showing that the man was coming closer, "who is it? Who are you talking to?"

"Sora's twin," Jack answered, stepping out of the way just in time for Roxas to see Peter Banning coming down the hall towards him. Peter stopped when he caught sight of the blonde-haired boy.

"Roxas?" he asked in confusion. "What are you doing here? I thought we'd never see you again with the time distortion thing happening."

Roxas shrugged. "Beats me," he answered. "I would've at least thought that there'd be a little change, given that by my watch five years should have passed since we last saw you."

"No it's been less than a year even since the crocodile ate Captain James Hook," said Peter, frowning.

"Wak!" Donald exclaimed from behind Roxas, pushing him aside. "Hook's gone!?" Peter stared at Donald for a second before letting out a laugh.

"Can we come in now?" Max asked, stepping past a flustered Roxas into the house. Goofy came in right after Max, leaving a slightly annoyed Roxas on the doorstep before there was enough room for him to enter the crowded hallway.

Peter was laughing as he hugged both Donald and Goofy. "It's been a long time hasn't it guys?" he asked, letting them out of his embrace. "Donald, Goofy."

"Gawrsh Peter," Goofy said, looking over the man who was now taller than him. "I guess even with what Sora you said I didn't expect for you to have grown up."

"You really are tall now," said Donald, looking _way_ up to see Peter's face.

Peter laughed again. "Growing up does that to a person Donald. Maybe you should try it sometime." Donald glowered at him, the white feathers of his forehead turning a little red. Peter looked instead at Roxas and frowned slightly. "But, how are you here and, well, solid Roxas? Shouldn't you and Naminé be appearing as astral projections or something?"

Roxas chuckled slightly from the awkwardness of the question. "Well, long story short, Naminé and I were able to create our own bodies using energy from ourselves and Sora and Kairi. It confuses me sometimes, but now we're their twins instead of their nobodies."

"Ah," Peter said. "So what are you doing here anyway? There haven't been any heartless and-" he broke off, hearing something coming from another room.

Peter shared a quick look with Jack and their eyes went insurmountably wide. "No!" Jack yelled, rushing past his father into the room. Believing there to be some kind of trouble, Donald, Goofy, Max, and Roxas quickly followed Peter into the room, ready to draw weapons if necessary.

Instead of an enemy, Jack was fuming and covering his face with his hands as a television displayed a man running around several bags on reddish shale.

"Get him out," Peter mumbled to himself. "Come on, get him out, get him out." On the screen Roxas could just see a small white ball tumbling towards what looked like a square white bag set against the diamond shaped field's far left end. The man that was running between the bags reached the third bag and stopped just a second before the ball reached the other man who had already been standing there, a glove outstretched to catch the ball. Roxas quickly realized that the uniforms of the two men were different. The one who had been catching the ball was wearing one that was white, and the one who had been running was wearing one that was gray.

"Damn," Jack whispered. "Two RBIs on that play."

"That makes it 5-4 for the Jays then," Peter said. "Damn them."

"Which teams are playing?" Goofy asked, promptly sitting down on a couch. Donald was very quick to follow him.

"St. Louis Cardinals and Toronto Blue Jays in St. Louis," Peter answered. "Seventh inning, one on, two outs."

"Who's on first?" Goofy asked.

"What's on second, and I Don't Know's on third," continued Peter.

"Who's pitching?" Donald asked.

"No Who's on first," Peter corrected.

"Who?" Donald asked.

"Who," Peter said.

"What's the guy's name on first?" Donald asked.

"No, What's the guy on second," Peter answered.

"I'm not asking you who's on second!"

"Who's on first."

"I don't know."

"He's on third now, we're not talking about him."

"Then give me the name of the guy on first."

"Who."

"The guy on first."

"Who."

"The guy playing first."

"Who."

"The guy on first base."

"Who."

"The guy on first."

"Who."

"What are you asking me for? I'm asking you!" Donald jabbered angrily.

"Donald," Roxas intervened quickly, his head both spinning and reeling in laughter. "I think what Peter means is that the name of the person who plays first base, whatever that is, his name is actually 'Who'."

There was a long pause from Donald.

"Ohhhhh," he said at last, finally understanding. "So Who is on first, What's on second, I Don't Know's on third."

"Why is in left field, Because is centre field, Today's catching and Tomorrow's pitching, and I Don't Give A Darn is shortstop," Peter finished, chuckling. "Anyways, what brings you guys here?"

"What's on second though dad," Jack quipped.

"Who's on second?" Donald asked.

"Who's playing first," Goofy said.

"I don't know," said Donald.

"Third Base!" the six of them yelled simultaneously.

"Actually," Roxas said, being careful to choose his words so that they avoided another relapse of 'Who's on First'. "We're in a bit of trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" Peter asked.

"Legal trouble," Roxas said with a sigh before beginning to explain the situation to Peter.

He was done in seven minutes, and when Roxas had finished Peter's head was bobbing up and down with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Okay, let's go."

"What?" Max asked.

"Let's go," Peter reiterated, getting off of the couch. "I must speak with my client as soon as possible. When did you say her first day on trial was?"

"Well Friday," Goofy said. "But if we left, wouldn't time go all wonky again by the time you got back in a few days?"

"It is currently Wednesday September the twenty-fourth here," Peter answered. "And according to your reckoning it is also Wednesday September the twenty-fourth back in Radiant Garden and Twilight Town and Destiny Islands and the other worlds. If anything, I believe that with Captain James Hook's fall, my world has been hard at work to ensure that the temporal dimension of time lines up with the other worlds. So it has slowed down its previous pacing of time in order to lock dates with the rest of the worlds."

"Sounds like a lot of techno-babble waffle," Roxas said, scratching his head in confusion. Peter placed his brown coat on over his shoulders before quickly dashing further into the house.

"So my dad's actually going to go to another world?" Jack asked. He had been a bit uncomfortable with Goofy and Donald's appearances before, but now they didn't disturb him much at all.

"I guess he is Jack," Goofy said.

"Where's your mom or sister?" Roxas asked quickly, wondering why he hadn't seen Moira or Maggie.

"Oh, my mom's just gone to drop Maggie off at a rehearsal for a school play," Jack answered. His face suddenly brightened. "Hey, this means that I'll have the house to myself for once. That's so cool!"

"Just don't break anything," Peter said hastily, coming back into the room with a suit bag, suitcase, briefcase, and a pair of mahogany dress shoes. "You can tell your sister where I'm going and what I'm doing, but all I want you to tell your mother is that I'm going to help out a friend who really needs a lawyer."

"Okay dad," Jack said, nodding. Even his dad's words though could not smother the gleam in his eyes. Roxas had a sneaking suspicion that the first thing the boy would do would be to raid the freezer and have some ice cream.

"Don't worry Jack," Peter said, hugging his son goodbye. "I promise that I'll make this adventure a short one."

"You've been getting pretty good at keeping your promises dad," Jack reminded him.

"Well I won't break this one," Peter said, leaving through the door with Donald. "See you soon Jack."

"Bye Dad," Jack called. Once his father was out of sight, Jack dashed somewhere into the house and Roxas was sure that his guess was dead on. He shared a look with Max as the two of them left the house and closed the door behind them with Donald and Goofy waiting just outside for them with Peter.

"Funny," said Max, shaking his head. "I thought your adventures were over."

"Oh no Max," Peter said with a smile. "To live, to live is the greatest adventure of all." Donald uttered a word under his breath and the next thing Roxas knew they were back on the _Highwind_.

"Well that was a nice briefing you gave me Roxas," Peter said, putting everything in his hands down. "But I think we should speak more. I need to know everything that's been happening."

"We'll tell you what we can," Goofy said. "But you're going to need to ask Kairi for the rest."

-A-D-

_That's it for now. Only three more chapters left before __**The War**__ gets restarted, with a rather expected or unexpected twist I might add._

_You see that now unmistakable giant button right underneath my penname and sig, I'd like it if you clicked that and wrote something intelligent in it._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	21. Remembrance

_Sora: (As a human once more) I don't understand it._

_Kairi: (Just walking in) Don't understand what?_

_Sora: (Pointing at Shire Folk) This guy._

_Kairi: (Looking between Sora and Shire Folk, who is standing with a sheepish grin on his face) When have we ever understood him? (Shire gets riled up at this but Kairi continues) Still, what don't you get?_

_Sora: That he forgot that Calypso was a Nereid when he claims to love Greek Mythology so much._

_Kairi: (Gasps)_

_Shire: (In an attempt to defend himself) I DO love Greek Mythology! It's just been a very long time since I've read the Odyssey and I forgot that both Calypso and Circe were competing to win Odysseus' affection on his journey home to Ithica. I remembered Circe, but I forgot Calypso. Is that so much of a crime?_

_Riku: (Coming in) Given that we worship Calypso, Poseidon, Thetis, and recognize a bunch of other sea nymphs because we live on a world that solely consists of a group of islands, I think it is._

_Shire: Whatever. Can I get someone to do the disclaimer please?_

_Sora: (Glancing between himself, Kairi, and Riku) Why should any of us help you with the disclaimer?_

_Shire: Otherwise you won't get the keyblade back this chapter and you won't learn what _Therlyenë _means. (Rumble of thunder in clouds. Shire Folk grimaces.) Okay fine Tylythia, he'll still get it back but it's all up to him, not me. And he still won't learn what _Therlyenë _means. (Another rumble of thunder.) Oh, now you're against me too Wagneir? Jeez, can't I even win against the Gods I created?_

_Riku: (Whispering) What's he talking about?_

_Kairi: I don't know, but I'm going to do the disclaimer so that I can see more of Sora as a cute lion cub. Shire Folk does not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, or Final Fantasy. However he owns his Gods, even if it looks like he can't win arguments against them, and he owns his OCs. He's also changing the game canon a little bit to make it movie canon._

_Sora: (Looking over at Kairi) You really like seeing me as a lion cub don't you?_

_Kairi: (Giggling with a slight blush) If there was a plushy of you as one, I'd own them all._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter XXI: Remembrance

The Sun had not yet risen over the horizon of the Pride Lands, but still the nearly full moon's silvery reflective light was failing as the dawning light of a soon to rise Sun pilfered through the dark sky. The stars, fewer in number than there should have been but still a sizable number, twinkled in the sky and brought some faint light to the closed eyelids of the sleeping creatures. The rain that had fallen earlier had drained the clouds that previously had moved in, and so the dark grey shapes in the pinpricked obsidian mantle above the savannah had become small wisps, distant from one another. The lower portions of those dark masses resting in the sky as east as the eye could see were already a rose-like red.

Sora snored and twitched as he lay on his back in the hollow of Rafiki's massive acacia tree. His legs hanging out in the air above him, they jolted occasionally as if he was running in some dream. Rafiki was already awake, and his back was turned to the sleeping lion cub as he examined a flat piece of the trunk in the hollow where there was a drawing of Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Also on it was one of Simba.

Rafiki was frowning as he stared intently at the drawing, or more specifically at the section that was Sora. He had never imagined that things could get so out of hand in the young boy's journey that he could stop listening to his heart. Rafiki had seen that Sora was strong of heart, and a very brave and cunning warrior. But he was also so young to be thrust into that position, and no matter how strong his heart was he was still a child who needed guidance and love.

The wind rustled through Rafiki's grizzled white mane of hair, his gourds and the leaves of the acacia tree chattering in the breeze.

"I know you are anxious to see your son like this Anne," he muttered to himself, still staring at the drawing of Sora on the tree's trunk. "And his run-in with the vengeful lioness Zira yesterday was not good-" He stopped as the wind picked up.

"What are you crazy?" He asked aloud, looking up into the sky in disbelief. "How was meeting Zira good, Mufasa?" The old mandrill waited for a few moments, listening.

"Scar has revealed himself again then?" Rafiki mused. "And he goes by the name of Xarcs now and is more powerful then ever? This news is very peculiar."

The wind blew softly now, barely sweeping Rafiki's mane to the side or causing the leaves to turn from their place in the tree. Rafiki's eyes widened in astonishment as it continued to whirl around him. "Have you gone insane Mufasa?" he asked, rather agitatedly. "It will never work and the risk is too high! Not only would we chance losing your granddaughter, but also the only hope-"

The wind blew again, and again Rafiki grumpily continued. "What does that poor cub have to do with this?" he asked. The leaves chattered loudly as the gale picked up and began to tumble all around Rafiki.

"I can't believe you're agreeing with him Anne!" Rafiki shouted. "It only means sending your son into more danger. You've both had your heads in the clouds for far too long." The strength of the gale grew until it was forcing Rafiki to push it back with hands set in defeat.

"Okay, okay," he relented, defeated. "I don't think that this is going to work," he sighed, "but I trust you Mufasa. I just hope you both know what you're doing!" Rafiki called after the wind as it swirled out of his tree.

Sora snoring suddenly jolted and his legs jerked, his back rolling over to his side. The wind returned as he mumbled something that sounded similar to 'leave me alone anti', his face scrunched up in what looked like pain. Rafiki watched as the wind softly blew around the lion cub and after a few moments his muttering ceased and his face slid back into one of peace, before his snores continued.

"She lives in you Sora," Rafiki murmured quietly, shaking his head, "you just have yet to see it yourself."

The old mandrill grabbed his walking stick with its two gourds tied to the knobby end at the top, took one last look at a sleeping Sora, and then left his tree whilst chuckling to himself. If all went according to Mufasa's plan, it was going to be an interesting day for him and three lion cubs.

Sora awoke some time later when the Sun was already two paw widths (stretched as far away from his body as possible) above the horizon. The air was still quite cool from the rain that had fallen again the previous night, but the golden mists had already been broken apart by the rising Sun's heating rays.

A very loud morning yawn escaped past his muzzle, his eyes shut closed for a good eight seconds as the yawn suppressed every other action his mind could even think of doing. Once the yawn was finished, Sora rolled onto his legs and stood, stretching his small body to the limits of his limbs for another few seconds before yawning again. Shaking his head slightly, he sat back down and began scratching his back with his hind leg. He really had had no idea just how good it felt to be able to scratch in places he'd never had the flexibility to scratch before.

Finishing that, Sora blearily looked around the hollow in the very large acacia tree, his cerulean eyes searching for the crazy monkey that would probably smack him with the stick for waking up a little late. He'd had a crazy dream, where Anti form was laughing and chasing him, big as the Groundshaker heartless composed of Scar ghosts he'd fought with Simba, Donald, and Goofy, while he had only been as small as he was now. Anti had been cackling something about killing him and taking all of his power for his own (or something of the like, Sora couldn't exactly remember). But then Anti-form became entirely enveloped in a bubble and shrunk down to the size of a tiny field mouse while his mother's voice told him to remember the words of the woman who'd saved him in that strange forest from the spiders.

Sora noticed that Rafiki wasn't here, and so decided to continue thinking while waiting for the old mandrill to show up.

Scratching his head with his front paw, being careful to avoid the spot where Jiminy Cricket was, he thought about those words he was sure he'd heard the voice of his mom speak. He'd not had a thought about that woman since after coming out of the coma, and in fact he'd mostly forgotten about her until those words had struck that spark of his memory.

He struggled to remember what it was that she had said. Something about listening to his heart instead of his head or he'd… he'd what? He shook his head, trying to remember what it was she had said. If anything else he remembered he could only recall the parting word she gave him, _Therlyenë_.

What was it? A name? If it was a name he'd never heard it before. Or could it have been in that language (Quincekence or whatever it was called) Kairi had been speaking? If that was the case then he knew he'd have no idea what it meant, and asking Kairi would be useless because she didn't understand the language herself, she just spoke it sporadically. King Mickey would be his best bet to ask, he'd just have to try and remember to ask him the next time he saw the monarch.

But it was the voice of his mother that had spoken to him. Wasn't… wasn't his mom gone? Hadn't Cossex personally seen to that?

He was distracted from his thoughts when his stomach gave a particularly loud growl and Sora looked down at it in frustration.

"Man, can't you ever give me a break?" he asked it fruitlessly, as it only growled again at his comment. Groaning, Sora rolled his head on its neck and took a step forward, peering down the trunk of the giant acacia tree at the ground far beneath him.

He remembered Rafiki telling him the previous night that he had to stay close to the tree at all times today, but he hadn't seen the cranky monkey since waking up, and Rafiki also hadn't made a move to rap him with that stick of his. His stomach was rumbling in protest and his mouth was salivating in thirst. In these circumstances, and also the fact that he knew he'd jumped and fallen greater distances without being hurt much at all, the distance between himself and the ground did not give Sora much pause as he leapt from the top of the tree.

It took him a whole two and a half seconds to hit the ground, and when he did Sora landed crouched on all four of his paws, the force buckling his knees but otherwise leaving him unharmed while he skidded about a foot.

Sora raised his head and looked off through the wet grasslands in the direction of the water hole he frequented, wondering why it was only when he was a lion that he was so thirsty when he woke up. He quickly looked around.

"Rafiki's not back yet," he said to himself, "and it's just the water hole after all…" Quickly making up his mind, Sora began to trot quite swiftly towards the water hole. And if Rafiki objected? Oh well, he wasn't here to tell him no.

Sora knew he really shouldn't be behaving like this. He had been told to stay put, essentially grounded and with good reason. But he knew he would not willingly go near the Outlands again, unless he wanted a quick death in the jaws of a rather powerful, gangly, and downright scary lioness.

And he was thirsty, where was he supposed to get water from if not the water hole? He hadn't seen any- well there were quite a few puddles on the ground from the last couple nights of heavy rainfall, but that was beside the point.

He hurried along to the water hole, remembering the last time he had ventured there after sleeping at Rafiki's tree and the elephants almost turning him into squishy lion cub goo in the water. He couldn't feel the ground trembling underneath his paws yet, so he knew that if the elephants were coming, they were a long ways off.

He crested the hill he had climbed last time and saw the water hole off in the distance, the tiny shadowed figures showing the animals already there. Sora sneezed as he made his way down the hill towards the lowlands where the water hole was. It was a little chilly this morning, and his fur had already gotten quite damp from the grasses that were thick with moisture from the night's rainfall. The ground itself was also a little muddy, having soaked up rain from two consecutive nights of rain, and by the time Sora had reached the water hole, his ashen fur and automail was slick with the dark brown of the mud.

The first thing he did when he reached the swelled pool was whisper to Jiminy that the cricket might want to leave the top of his head, as he'd be going in to clean himself of the mud. Jiminy, surprisingly, told him that he'd still be fine within Sora's spiked locks of chestnut. Shrugging, Sora waded into the water until it was at his neck level when he strained his head to face the sky, realizing uncomfortably that the water wasn't as blue as it had been the day previous. A minute later he was cleaned of the wet dirt that plagued his body, and he had moved off to another side of the water hole away from the mud he'd just deposited into it to drink his fill.

"Have trouble staying clean kitty?" Swara asked, drinking next to him once again. Sora shook himself in all directions to shed the water that still dripped from his fur. Swara shrieked and backed away slightly to get away from the drying feline, who laughed when his fur was adequately dry (though that still didn't stop the chill that the blowing wind gave him).

"That hill was slippery," Sora protested, about to lean his head down to drink again. "And my leg doesn't have as much grip on the ground as my other three."

"You still never said how you got that thing," said Swara, coming back to drink next to him. Sora glanced sideways at the gazelle.

"Freak accident," he explained, telling the truth. "I don't really want to talk about it." Swara nodded and didn't press him further. They stood, drinking for a few seconds in silence before Sora broke it again. "So how did the game of tag go after I left?"

Swara lifted her head after he spoke and looked at him accusingly. "Pretty soon after you left, I got tagged!"

Sora barely suppressed a chuckle, his crest and pendant lightly tapping against his white-furred chest. "Sucks to be you," he said. Swara snorted and dipped her neck to drink again.

"Sucks to be me too," Sora sighed, raising his head from the water and frowning at the liquid as if it had insulted him.

"Huh?" Swara asked, looking at him.

Sora shook his head. "I've only got one day left to do what I came to the Pride Lands to do, and I've managed to get myself grounded at Rafiki's tree."

"What?" Swara asked, surprised. "Grounded? How?"

Sora grimaced and shook his head again, this time only slightly. "I told you before that I never even knew what or where the Outlands were right? Well, I found out yesterday, and almost got _eaten_ by that lioness Zira."

"Oh my," Swara said slowly, her mouth gaping open. She quickly shook her head to break herself from her trance at her friend's words. "You're okay though right? You aren't missing your tail or anything?"

Sora wafted his tail in front of her, its dark brown tuft of fur on the end just tickling her nose. "Nope," he said, smiling once more. "Tail's still here, same with every other part of me."

_Except your courage, tiny tabby cat,_ Anti cackled in his mind. Sora put the comment his darkness made out of his mind.

"Well that's good," Swara said. "I wouldn't have liked it if the only lion friend I had had managed to get himself eaten by an Outsider."

"I don't like Outsiders," Sora quickly said. He was unsure why he said it, but he knew as soon as the words had left his lips that they were true. Maybe he was judging too quickly, but from just that first experience with Zira he was already confident that nearly all Outsiders were like that. Fanatically devoted to Scar's memory, and willing to kill both him and Simba and Simba's entire pride just for revenge.

No, not just Simba's pride. _His_ pride. _His_ family. Simba had named him a brother to him, member of his pride. That made him family to these lions, that these lions were family to him.

"So if you're grounded," Swara went on, "why are you here?"

Sora looked blankly at her as if it was obvious. "Uh, I'm thirsty." Swara rolled her eyes and continued to drink.

"You know," Sora said at length, smiling, "something good happened yesterday too."

"Really?" Swara asked. "You mean apart from- DAMN I LOST THE GAME!"

"Damn you Swara, I lost the game!" Sora growled. At the same time he spoke this, he could hear the voices of at least three of the gazelles he had played tag with yesterday saying the exact same thing. Swara looked guiltily at Sora, and even with a little bit of fright in her eyes as she saw the look of loathing within them.

It was gone in a second as soon as Sora recognized the look within the female gazelle's eyes. He laughed. "Swara, you have a lot to learn about the game," he chuckled. "People will absolutely HATE you for a few seconds to a few minutes every single time they lose the game because you lost the game first."

"Okay so it's normal," she said, her breathing returning to normal.

"Yeah it's completely normal," Sora said, moving out of the way as a rhino plodded towards the spot where he was so that he could drink.

"So what was the good thing that happened yesterday?" Swara asked again.

"Oh nothing much," Sora whispered, shrugging while smiling. "Just that Simba named me his foster brother and a member of his pride is all." Swara froze and looked at him in astonishment. Then to Sora's own bewilderment, she bowed to him.

"What the heck are you doing?" he asked.

"Bowing," she replied with her face low and her nose dipping slightly into the water of the water hole.

"Well I can see that," Sora said, rolling his eyes. "But why?"

Swara straightened from her bow and looked Sora square in the eyes. "Because-"

"Swara!" both the lion cub and the young gazelle turned their heads as Swara's father called to her. He jerked his head to show that the herd was moving out and Swara turned back to Sora.

"Sorry but I've got to go," she said apologetically, bowing once more to Sora's confusion. "I'll see you around." Sora wasn't sure if she heard his goodbye, as Swara had bolted off very quickly to join her mother and father, and it looked like she was whispering very hurriedly to them. Both adult gazelles twitched their heads in Sora's direction, and only added to the spinning feeling in Sora's head as they respectfully inclined their heads towards him.

Sora shook his head and dipped it back down to drink more water. By Poseidon he was thirsty! "What do you think of that Jiminy?" he asked.

"I'm not sure Sora," the cricket replied truthfully from within Sora's spiked head of hair.

-A-D-

Kiara sighed as she sat on Pride Rock, looking out into the Sun as it rose higher into the sky. She had been sitting here all morning, stuck with nothing to do. Her father was out in the Pride Lands, overseeing his realm, Timon and Pumbaa were off somewhere else, probably pigging out on bugs, and her mother was on a hunt with the other lionesses.

This left her alone with the other cubs and the two lionesses that had stayed behind to watch over them. Normally she wouldn't have minded this, but things had been unusual, exciting, and interesting ever since Sora had shown up again. She would deny to any that she had been scared yesterday when she secretly followed her mother, father, the pride, and Zazu, Timon, and Pumbaa to the Outlands and saw Zira, and she had run back to Pride Rock as quickly as she could when her father had started to turn back to the Pride Lands so that he wouldn't see that she had tagged along.

She couldn't help but be more curious about what was happening out in the Pride Lands right now. Maybe it was the royal blood within her that wanted to oversee the land she would one day be queen of rising to the surface of her brain, or maybe it was simply the innate curiosity of a young lion cub.

She sighed again and rolled over onto her back, feeling the warm rock on her skin underneath the fur that covered her body.

"Sooo bored!" she said in frustration, lolling her paws up into the air in front of her.

"You should be out and away from Pride Rock." Kiara gasped and rolled back onto her feet in surprise at the sudden voice. She hung her head and sighed again as she saw the mandrill Rafiki crouched in front of her, clutching his staff. "Hi."

"Good morning Rafiki," Kiara said, looking down glumly.

"Aw," Rafiki said, moving his head closer to look intently at her, "why de long face?"

"I'm so bored," Kiara moaned again. "I wish something exciting could happen."

"Ah, but there is excitement all around you," Rafiki said excitedly. "Why, even things that appeared dead are very much alive, if only waiting to be discovered."

"Really?" Kiara asked, her face beaming with interest. Rafiki chuckled to himself.

"You know of that dried up creek?" he asked. Kiara nodded, her smile very wide. "Maybe you should go and see it for yourself," Rafiki finished. Kiara's eyes beamed with excitement and she hastily dashed off of Pride Rock and out into the Pride Lands.

-A-D-

A small male lion cub with fur of reddish-brown and jet black hair lay down on the hard grey ground of the Outlands. His green eyes were downcast as he lay within the shadow of the massive termite mound the Outsiders had taken as their home. Like the young cub on Pride Rock, this one (whose name was Kovu) was also incredibly bored.

"Why Kovu?" the voice of his mother, Zira cooed. "Why such a long face?" The young cub looked up in confusion at his mother. She was normally never so tender, her demeanor usually that of bitterness and anger.

"Well there's nothing really to do mother," Kovu answered, unsure of what he should say while Zira was acting so unusually.

"Ah but you're wrong," Zira said, chuckling to herself in a way that sounded as if she was highly pleased. Kovu was confused. He'd _never_ heard his mother sound this happy before.

"I-I am?"

"Go into the Pride Lands today my son," said Zira, prodding him with her snout; and a gleam in her eyes that he couldn't quite classify.

"The Pride Lands?" Kovu asked. He was astounded at what his mother was telling him to do. She'd told him in the past that he was never to go to the Pride Lands, and now she was ordering him to go to that forbidden place!

Zira chuckled once more to herself and prodded Kovu a little harder. "Yes Kovu, go to the Pride Lands."

Unsure of why his mother was pushing him to go to the place he had been forbidden to go, Kovu got onto his feet and began to scamper off away from the termite mounds that had been his home for as long as he could remember.

Soon though, his questioning of his mother had worn away to the curiosity of what lay within the Pride Lands. His mother had previously forbidden it, so there had to be something good in there that she obviously didn't want him to find or else he'd never leave.

Zira watched Kovu begin to run away instead of merely walking with fitful bursts of speed. "Now what shall I do, my King?" she asked as Xarcs appeared beside her from behind a rock.

"Just wait Zira," Xarcs commanded. "Wait until little Kovu comes back or until I return with news. If I do not return by sunrise tomorrow, be patient, for I shall have merely been delayed, and will eventually return to lead our kind back into the Pride Lands."

"And Kovu?" Zira asked.

"When he returns, question him about his day, and then you will know what to do with him until my return," Xarcs said. He then leapt high onto a cliff and began to survey Kovu and the young cub's progress towards the Pride Lands.

-A-D-

Sora made it back to Rafiki's tree as quickly as he was able to after having finished his long and well deserved draught of water (and the arrival of the elephants), only sliding on the mud twice without managing to fall into it as he had on his way down to the water hole. He quickly glanced up into the boughs of the tree when he reached to base of it. Rafiki wasn't there. Good, he wasn't busted.

Sora heaved a sigh of relief and walked a few paces beyond the trunk of the tree before plopping down onto the ground. His sigh quickly turned into a frustrated groan as he realized that he was still stuck here, grounded. He was forcibly reminded of the last time he'd been grounded, right when he was eating supper with his mother, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey. He chuckled a little bit, thinking that with the way his mother had looked at him back then that she wouldn't have wanted him going on anymore adventures.

His chuckle was short lived as he glanced at his automail limb. He understood completely where his mother had probably been coming from not wanting him going on more adventures. He'd turned himself into a heartless to save Kairi, nearly been killed at least a dozen times by various heartless and nobodies (especially when he had just been starting out with Donald and Goofy and presented with the steepest learning curve of anything in his life!), was confident that he'd broken a few ribs while he had fought against Maleficent when she was a dragon (and somehow he'd _still_ managed to beat Riku!) and now he'd gone and gotten himself mutilated to save Kairi again. Funny, every time he got horribly hurt it was to protect Kairi.

Sora smiled slightly as he thought of her. By the Gods, what had he ever done to deserve a girl like her? Surely saving the worlds twice wasn't enough? Heck, in his mind there was no deed he could do that would be heroic enough to earn Kairi's love.

Sora laughed and placed his head on his outstretched paws as the Sun's rays soaked into his ash coloured fur. Why was he thinking he needed to earn Kairi's love? He already knew that she loved him more than anyone else in the universe, and that there was no other girl that would be able to make him smile the way she did. He had her love, her heart, because the fair princess was willing to give them to him out of her own love for him. And she had his heart and love, because there was no other girl that he loved like he did Kairi. He'd be willing to throw himself headfirst into the colossal powers of Kingdom Hearts if it meant saving her or making her smile again.

But, was Kairi _that_ important to him? Would it mean sacrificing everything to just make her happy or see her smile? Leaving his friends or innocents behind to die while he stayed with her to make Kairi happy?

Sora shook his head in confusion before he suddenly felt a piece of wood strike his side and send him sprawling and rolling several feet to his left.

"And just where have _you_ been?" Rafiki asked sternly, crouching down and staring intently at him. Sora cringed.

_Busted!_

_Shut up Anti! Man, you're worse than Roxas was._

_I'll take that as a compliment._

Sora growled to himself, Anti was becoming rather closer to a pest than a sadistic and perverted creature.

"Well?" Rafiki asked, striking Sora's rump with his staff. Sora allowed himself to give a gasp of sudden discomfort. He'd momentarily forgotten Rafiki in Anti-form's sudden comment.

"I had been drinking from the water hole," Sora explained. "I was thirsty so I-"

"Went without me taking you!" said Rafiki sternly, shaking his staff. The rattling of the gourds tied to the top of it caused Sora to shiver, as the inanimate objects themselves seemed to sound angry with him.

"If you are to be in my care," he went on, grounding his staff's bottom end into the soft soil with a quick thrust, "then before you do _anything_ you must ask for my permission and permit me to follow should I so choose."

"Great!" Sora exclaimed. "I really am grounded!"

Rafiki chuckled to himself. "Come on young cub, there is a healthy number of beetles for you to eat by this tree over here." Sora sighed and got onto his feet and followed Rafiki, his stomach commanding him more than his mind. The mandrill led him for a few minutes towards a bright tree. A large assortment of different grubs and beetles were crawling all over the left side of the tree's trunk and roots.

Rafiki deftly reached out and picked a crawling black beetle off of the trunk with his left hand and quickly placed it into his mouth and bit down in a crunching noise. The sound of the mandrill eating was too much for Sora's stomach and before he knew what he was doing he had already unwittingly swallowed two slugs that happened to be the first creatures in front of him.

Their slime was just as disgusting as it had been the day before. However, he seemed better able to handle the taste and his stomach was not protesting quite as much as before. Maybe that just had to do with that he'd only had two slugs instead of seven snails. Still, Sora quickly searched for a bug with red and yellow stripes like the one Timon and Pumbaa had given him the day before that had soothed his stomach, found it, and ate it. Soon, as he continued to eat bugs alongside the monkey, his stomach's flighty attitude had vanished.

But Sora's thoughts were no longer centred round that which he was eating. He had always done everything he could to protect Kairi before, but when he had been at Hollow Bastion and the heartless were attacking it in force he had forsaken the search for both Riku and Kairi in determination to help save the world and his friends.

But both in his search and in defending the worlds against the enemies that had tried to either destroy or conquer them, he had always been with the keyblade. Now though…

"Who am I?" Sora asked quietly to himself. "What am I?"

Never had Kairi's questioning words rang truer to himself than now. Just who was Sora, the keyblade master without a keyblade? Was he still the same person who had not so long ago defended the worlds with all the strength and mettle of his noble heart against the great threat posed by Xemnas? Or was he some other person he had not known for a long time: a boy with a carefree life who had never even heard of heartless or nobodies and darkness had never touched his home.

_No_, Sora decided. He was definitely not the latter. He knew deep in his heart that even after all he had seen and experienced, there was no way he'd be able to go back completely to the way he had been.

Sora shook his head again, having never even imagined that he would ever lose his identity. He was still being called the keyblade master even though it would no longer listen to his call for it to come to him. But… he didn't quite know what he was supposed to feel about himself, who he was, just _what_ he was.

It was into this confused lion cub's thoughts that another distraction presented itself in the bounding form of Kiara as the young female cub pranced into his field of vision.

"Hi Uncle Sora," she said, giggling slightly to herself at calling him 'uncle'. Sora frowned.

"When did you find out?" he asked.

"Daddy told me last night," Kiara answered, looking left and right. "So what are you doing?"

"Well right now I'm eating," Sora answered, looking down from Kiara's excited face. He didn't think that he needed to include that he was also thinking pretty depressing and confusing thoughts.

"Oh," Kiara said. "Hey, do you remember that dried up creek we passed by the other day?"

Sora nodded slowly, vaguely remembering it. The dried up creek hadn't been a very exciting part of the quick tour Timon and Pumbaa had given him, but for some reason it had to be interesting to Kiara at this very moment for her to bring it up.

"Well, because it's rained so much, I thought I'd see if anything has changed about it," explained Kiara. She cocked her head to its side and smiled inquiringly. "Would you like to come with me?"

Sora shook his head slightly and looked back down to the feast of grubs at his paws. He didn't see how a dried up creek that could now be possibly flowing again could be so interesting. "Not today Kiara. Besides, I've been grounded." He glanced at Rafiki, who merely chuckled slightly to himself.

"Oh, okay," Kiara said, not really seeming disturbed by this news though a slight note of disappointment had crept into her tone. She took two tentative steps forward past Sora. "Well, I guess I'll see you later then uncle."

"Bye Kiara. Have fun and be careful," Sora called after her as she left in prancing leaps. He shook his head with a slightly bemused expression on his face. It was a little startling for him to suddenly be addressed as 'uncle', but what was even more surprising was that he was beginning to feel more than just a little protective of Kiara.

A few more minutes went by and Sora thought about how coincidental it was that same protective feeling he had whenever danger was near both himself and Kairi was beginning to burgeon within his chest at the thought of Kiara out in the Pride Lands alone. He hadn't been able to sense Timon or Pumbaa in either sight, sound, or smell, and he didn't catch sight of Zazu (having been introduced to him after learning that it was the small hornbill that had truly been the one to save his life the previous day) slowly following above in the blue sky.

Another ten minutes went by for Sora to realize how odd it also was that if you simply switched the vowels in either name you got 'Kairi' from 'Kiara', but he attributed this to simple coincidence, even if it did make him think.

He looked out into the lush grasslands of the savannah from underneath Rafiki's grand acacia tree, the mandrill standing guard over him from in the dell and watching him intensely.

For Rafiki, all was going surprisingly well, considering the audacity of the plan Mufasa's spirit had presented him with. The keyblade master was pacing back and forth restlessly in front of the trunk of the tree.

Simba had done well and made old Mufasa proud in making this young one his foster brother, but he could not have foreseen the consequences of the actions of his heart. In doing so and making Sora brother and uncle to Kiara, Rafiki could see the stirrings of restlessness he'd seen in Simba when unsure of Kiara's current condition. The subtle but persistent tugs of concern within his heart, not for his own well being but that of others, were beginning to cause the young keyblade master to listen to what his strongest asset had been silently whispering throughout his short life. For Sora it appeared to be the same anxiety he felt for Kairi when she was in danger, but Rafiki could tell that it was that which he felt for all who needed to be defended against the forces of evil.

For some time Rafiki watched as Sora paced in front of his tree, the sounds of his automail leg clicking softly every time he moved it or pawed the ground in anxiety. There was already a small rut worn into the soft soil from where the keyblade master had been meandering.

Rafiki felt the wind stir near him and smiled a little, now watching Sora more intently. The cub froze in place as the wind whirled around him, but almost immediately afterwards he lost his rigidity and his muscles seemed to both relax and grow taught in the wind, preparing for something.

Sora looked up at Rafiki, and the mandrill chuckled slightly to himself for a few seconds before nodding very slowly. "_Asante sana, squash banana! We we nugu, mi mi apana!_" he sniggered under his breath as the lion cub instantly sprang to life to race into the savannah after Kiara.

-A-D-

Before Kiara had even reached the creek she knew it was running again, having heard the water rushing over its previously forsaken bed. When she actually made it to the creek she found that the water level was still pretty low, but that it was fierce. The beginnings of some more grass were already shooting up at the banks of the creek, and some creatures smaller than her (such as lizards and mice) were already here and carefully drinking a little water from the flowing stream.

Kiara sighed. It wasn't as interesting as Rafiki had made it out to be. Water flowing where there had not been water before simply wasn't interesting. In fact, this whole creek seemed to be just as boring as Pri-

_Oh look, a butterfly!_

Kiara leapt after the brightly coloured flying insect, trying to catch it in her paws as it fluttered just past her nose. Laughing to herself, she chased after the butterfly.

"Come back here," she giggled after an eleventh missed attempt at grabbing the flying creature she stalked, "I just want to play." The butterfly seemed not to care that she wanted to play or not, and was perfectly content with fluttering just out of the young lioness' reach. Eventually though, the beautiful insect felt its wings getting heavy and tired. It landed on a rock to rest its aching appendages for a few seconds.

Kiara stopped and crouched low in the grass, a devious look taking over her face. "The mighty hunter has cornered her prey," she whispered to herself, twitching her shoulder muscles as she prepared to spring and finally grab the butterfly. For four tense seconds Kiara waited, watching the slowly folding and unfolding wings of the butterfly in front of her, listening and feeling the wind blowing around her, gripping the soft earth beneath her paws…

She leapt for the butterfly at the same moment it took flight again and her scraping paws missed the insect. Kiara misjudged the amount of force she'd attacked with, and felt her belly sliding over and off the rock before she tumbled down a small hill that the rock had been on.

"Oof," she groaned once finally stopped rolling down the hill, her eyes and head spinning for several seconds as she got back up. The young princess of Pride Rock jammed her eyes shut as she felt the world spinning around her. Her legs swayed in a clockwise rotation as her body struggled to retain its balance.

After a minute, Kiara allowed her eyes to open again, and a smile grew onto her face when she saw what she saw.

The Outlands.

Without further thought, Kiara immediately began to make for them. Yes, she had tagged along without being seen yesterday. Yes, she had seen Sora almost being eaten by Zira. However, she would be more careful and only stray to the edge of the Outlands. Sora was simply an unlucky fool. Nothing bad would happen to her, she was too good to get caught by an Outsider. She was the mighty hunter Kiara, daughter of Simba, King of Pride Rock. There was nothing that she was unable to do, no Outsider could scare her!

Kiara reached the same river bank she had hidden by yesterday and climbed onto the log Sora had used to cross over the river. She reached the end, but tripped over her back feet and tumbled down from the log. The first thing she realized when she landed however was that she landed on something that was soft like fur rather than the soft earth.

Kiara looked up and backed away quickly as she noticed that she had fallen directly onto a lion cub with reddish brown fur and green eyes, a tuft of a hair that would later grow into a jet black mane on the top of the cub's head.

An Outsider. Curse her luck.

-A-D-

Sora struggled as he tried to follow Kiara's tracks through the savannah. She had meandered quite a lot on the way towards the creek, and the tracks were not always clear to follow amongst the growing buffalo grass. Sora would often have to search for a few minutes before he'd be able to pick up the trail again, and even then he was only tentatively aware of the trail and had found himself backtracking for a minute or two before realizing that he was going the wrong way. Occasionally the trail led him through groups of grazing animals, and where the gazelles and antelope he'd passed through had been completely content with letting him pass, the wildebeest had raised somewhat of a fuss.

But now Kiara's trail had led him to a large rock she had evidently leapt on top of and then jumped off of in another direction, and Sora was completely stumped in trying to locate her tracks again. He'd circled the whole rock in ever-increasing radii to try and pick her trail up again, always stopping and checking from the spot she had jumped onto the rock in the first place.

_Dead end Sora,_ Anti said within his mind. _Looks like you can't help out your little foster-niece._

_Be quiet Anti_, Sora replied. _I am not in the mood right now._

"What are you doing Sora?"

The young lion cub started and turned at the sound of Swara's voice, coming from behind him. What the heck was _she_ doing _here_?

He voiced his question aloud, except without the 'heck' thrown into it, and Swara simply look back at him unquestioningly. "You passed through our herd, and didn't answer me when I called you, so I followed you here." She paused and took a step closer to him. "So, what are you doing anyway?"

"I'm trying to track Kiara," Sora replied, looking back down at the ground in the hopes that the tracks he had sought for the past ten minutes would suddenly appear in front of his snout even after he'd just checked this particular section for them five seconds ago.

"Why?" Swara asked, not without a little concern in her voice.

"I think she may be in trouble," Sora answered, taking another few steps around the ring and scanning for pawprints that were different from his own. "Dammit Kiara, where are you?"

"Can you show me where her last tracks were?" Swara asked quickly. Sora glanced at her and noticed the determined look in Swara's eyes. Maybe she could help. He remembered how they had worked together playing tag yesterday. She was more in tune with her physical senses than he was. Maybe Swara could smell a path?

Sora nodded quickly and backpedaled to where his last known set of Kiara's pawprints was. Swara bent down and took a few moments smelling it, getting the scent engrained within her brain. It wasn't too difficult as she took in the smell of lion; it was just fixating the smell of this particular lion within her mind that took time.

Sora watched as Swara lifted her head back up and began sniffing the air with closed eyes, wandering about the rock and area as she inhaled in the different scents Sora could also smell, but was not practiced enough to place. For an agonizing thirty seconds Sora watched Swara go about this until she froze in place and her head swiveled towards a certain direction.

Instantly Sora bolted towards the spot her head indicated and he found Kiara's tracks seconds later. He turned back to look at Swara and nodded his head. "Come on!"

-A-D-

"Who are you Pridelander?" the cub asked Kiara, growling at her as he got up to face her. Kiara didn't answer him, but instead refused to back down and meet him face to face. She wouldn't deny even to herself now that she was a little afraid (especially at the menacing way he was baring his teeth), but the one thing her father had always stressed was that you can't turn your back on an Outsider.

The lion cub moved to try and get around to her side, and instead Kiara leapt off to continue facing his front rather than letting him cut around her. The Outsider tried again, and again Kiara forced him to look at her face. His expression was now no longer hostile, having slipped into one of curiosity.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"My father says to never turn your back on an Outsider!" Kiara answered, trying to sound and look as brave as possible in a hope to get him to back down.

"You always do what Daddy says?" the Outsider asked mockingly. Kiara flushed in resentment.

"No!" she retorted. The defensive tone her voice had taken made it incredibly easy for the Outsider to continue to taunt her. At the same time though, there was something about him that intrigued her. Kiara had never met a cub like this one before.

"Bet you do," he insisted. "Bet you're Daddy's little girl." He laughed and hopped down onto a log that led back across the river down near the water's surface. "An Outsider like me doesn't need anybody," he flaunted. "I take care of myself!"

"Really?" Kiara asked, following him. "Cool." The Outsider looked back at Kiara and his eyes went wide as a distressed yell erupted from his lungs. Kiara looked back behind her and saw the massive jaws of a crocodile opened wide and preparing to snap down on her!

She screamed and yelled, "Run!" Kiara quickly jumped, a surge of adrenaline taking her off towards a nearby rock away from the crocodile. "This way!" The Outsider followed alongside her, jumping from rock to rock as more crocodiles emerged from the water, their powerful snapping jaws only missing the two lion cubs' tails by the width of said appendage.

Panting, Kiara paused on a bumpy rock, the Outsider on one just next to her. They did nothing but breathe heavily for a few seconds before Kiara began to giggle slightly. "That was a close one," said the Outsider.

"Yeah," Kiara added. Their elated looks vanished suddenly as both felt the rocks they were standing on start to shift and move upwards.

They weren't standing on rocks. They were standing on the heads of two more giant crocodiles!

Kiara jumped from her snapping crocodile towards a high hanging branch in the water, while the Outsider jumped instead onto another crocodile.

"Hey what about me?" Kiara asked, watching him from the relative safety of her branch.

"I'll distract them," he answered, moving further down the river as he leapt from croc to croc, barely ahead of the beasts and their frighteningly sharp and powerful teeth. "Run!"

Kiara found herself unable to run as he ordered, a crocodile slinking up towards the branch after her. She clung desperately onto her branch with her now outstretched claws, one paw off and ready to swipe at the crocodile if it came close enough to her.

The young lioness took pause when she heard a splash and quickly looked towards where the sound came from. The other cub had slipped from the last crocodile he had jumped from and fallen into the water. There had to be at least five different crocodiles coming after him now, each one of them wanting to have the Outsider for dinner.

"Look out!" she called, hoping to attract his attention. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him turn, but now she had to look to her front instead as the crocodile that insisted on cornering her was far too close for comfort. Terrified, she took a swing at it with her claws, just scratching the top of its jaw. The crocodile turned its head away for a second and Kiara looked back to the cub to find him frozen in terror as a giant mouth opened and prepared to snap down on his head. There was a nearby tree branch that led back up to the cliff bank and safety, but the cub was too petrified to get to it.

Mustering herself, Kiara leapt from her perch on the branch to land directly on top of the prepped crocodile. Her sudden weight on top of the snout caused the jaw to snap down and shut just in front of the Outsider. "Move it!" she said.

His green eyes flickered with life as they picked up her red ones. Quickly he was able to sprawl out of the water and onto the branch. Kiara clambered up after him just as a crocodile piled over the head of the one she had just been standing on. Jaws snapped up after them, breaking parts of the branch apart, but always just behind until both cubs were too far out of reach.

Kiara stood now next to the Outsider cub, staring down with almost disbelief at the gathering of crocodiles around the bottom of the river's cliff-bank as the creatures glared at the two of them with hatred for escaping back into the Pride Lands.

"I did it," she whispered to herself. Her face suddenly gained a huge smile of victory. "I did it!" she exclaimed, feeling so invincible that she blew the fuming crocodiles a raspberry. The cub next to her laughed victoriously, happily joining in taunting them.

-A-D-

Thanks to Swara's continued assistance, Sora was able to consistently find and keep on Kiara's tracks, and the two of them were quite quick in moving through the grasses of the Pride Lands before they reached the creek. Sora looked around anxiously for Kiara, but he was unable to find her at all.

"Damn," he breathed, looking left and right quickly, his eyes scanning hurriedly for any sign of her.

"She was here Sora," Swara said, her head moving left and right. "I can smell that she was here."

"I know that," Sora answered, "but for how long? And then where did she go?" His eyes spotted tracks again, and he quickly dismissed them, thinking them to be the same tracks he'd followed.

Sora did a double take. The tracks he'd just spotted were not the ones he and Swara had followed here. Swara's head flickered towards them as soon as he had bolted at them. She came up behind him in a flurry of hooves and bent down, smelling the trail.

"It's her," she said, raising her head and inhaling the scent. "She went this way, and not long ago either."

"Then let's go," Sora said, already dashing off to follow the trail. Swara was right behind him, her hooves beating and pounding into the grass.

"You know I wonder," Sora shouted back at Swara, "how is it that you can smell and track Kiara so well?"

"Do you think we'd survive long if we couldn't tell when lions were close or where they were, or how long ago they'd passed by?" Swara asked rhetorically. "So why is it that you can't track as well? You're a hunter."

Sora put on a further burst of speed and pretended as if he hadn't heard her. A rock loomed ahead of him and he skidded to a stop, spraying dirt and torn grass in front of him. Swara couldn't slow down as effectively on her legs and cantered for a few seconds in a circle before coming to a stop.

"What is it?" she asked. Sora took a few tentative steps forward, scanning the ground.

"She had been jumping and pouncing on her way to this point," he said, "she crouched low here… and it looks like she leapt at that rock." He stopped and got onto the rock and found himself looking over a hill. He could see the buffalo grass ruffled as if something about Kiara's size had rolled down it. He drew his gaze upwards and gasped.

"What is it?" Swara asked anxiously, coming to stand next to him. She gasped as well when her black-hair covered eyes saw what he was looking at.

The Outlands.

"We have to hurry," Sora said, jumping off the rock and racing down along the path through the grass caused by the rolling lioness. Swara ran just behind him, her fur glistening like his with the sweat caused by so much continued exertion. Neither minded the toll it was causing on their bodies, so long as Kiara came out of it safe it didn't matter.

Both of their ears picked up a scream, and instead of following the path they mutually wheeled off to follow the direction of the sound, but it was still some ways away.

"I can smell her," Swara said quickly. "Her scent is strong. She is here."

_She is fine._

Sora slowed down as the wind whistled in his ears. He flicked his head left and right. He thought for sure he heard some voice telling him that he was alright. Swara slowed and walked next to him, both of them breathing heavily. The sharp sound of snapping wood broke through their ears, but the wind continued to blow around them and Sora found his anxieties about Kiara being eased as he noticed he was walking close by the cliff-bank of the river that separated the Pride Lands from the Outlands. He stopped when he heard voices and crouched down into the grass. Swara looked at him, puzzled for a moment, but then followed his example.

Kiara was standing with her back turned to him, facing the bank of the river. "I did it," he heard her whisper. "I did it!" Sora smiled as he heard her laugh and blow a raspberry at what was probably a massive throng of pissed-off crocodiles. But then he heard the laugh of a lion cub next to her, and Sora's eyes immediately hardened when he realized he hadn't seen this cub before.

An Outsider.

Zira's image and her razor-like teeth and claws flashed through his mind as he looked at the back of this cub with reddish-brown fur and black hair. Both cubs turned around and Sora's eyes flashed when he noticed the green of the cub's eyes. The green of them made him look remarkably like what Scar might have looked like when he was a cub, except that this one held no scar.

A throaty growl was about to escape from Sora's throat when he felt the wind again.

_Wait Sora, he won't hurt her._

Shaking his head, Sora turned his eyes back to the two cubs again to find that Kiara was speaking.

"-you see the size of those teeth?" she asked excitedly. "They were goin' 'Rrarrarrarrarr'." She stopped and rolled onto her back, laughing at the adventure she and the other cub had evidently had. "He was just totally eatin' you up right there, and I jumped on his head, and I bopped him so good. We make such a good team!"

Kiara paused, allowing herself to breathe for a second as she got back onto her feet and faced the cub. Sora could even see from this distance that there was a small twinkle in her red eyes and a look of sincere admiration on her face. "And you… you were really brave…"

"Yeah," the other cub said, looked slightly down in embarrassment. "You were pretty brave too." There was a very short moment of silence between them before the male cub decided to break it. "My name's Kovu."

Kiara giggled slightly and took a flirtatious step towards Kovu. Sora felt his face grow intensely hot and his mouth opened wide as he saw her bat her eyelashes at him while she spoke with the succulence of sweet honey. "I'm Kiara."

She was flirting with the guy and she'd barely met him!

Kovu backed away slightly, uncomfortable with the lack of distance between him and Kiara. Sora's open mouth formed into a slight smirk as he shook his head at himself. Perhaps he'd judged all Outsiders a little too quickly and harshly based on his lone experience with Zira.

"They look like they're having fun," Swara whispered to him as Kiara tried to initiate a game of tag with Kovu.

"Doesn't look like they're in trouble either," Sora replied.

He immediately regretted his words as he heard the all-too familiar sound of opening swirls of darkness from which heartless appeared. Also present was the slinking sound of silvery nobodies as they arrived alongside the heartless.

Sora took two frightened paces backwards while he crouched low in the grass. This was something he definitely _did not_ want to have to deal with. If heartless saw him and attacked, he had nothing, _nothing_ to defend himself with. Swara was right next to him, looking at the creatures in absolute, uncomprehending terror. The heartless were much like dogs and about the size of wolves, still bigger than Sora by all accounts. Their fur (if it could even be called that) was as black as the night, scattered blood red-patches of scarlet staining their coats. The insignia of the heartless was branded just inside the neck. Their maws were open, showcasing their constantly bared teeth that were polished to an ivory white. The bright yellow eyes of theirs that were characteristic of all heartless seemed to Sora even more menacing than normal. The nobodies, however, were the full size of lionesses and in that shape even, their silver coats gleaming in the Sun's light. Sharp silver claws were extended and raking into the soft ground and the symbol of the nobodies could be seen stretching across the top of their backs.

Both Sora and Swara were lucky, as the two score of heartless and nobodies seemed perfectly content with forming a ring around a trapped Kovu and Kiara. Sora paused in backing up, realizing that both Kiara and Kovu had nowhere to go, surrounded as they were.

A pained expression came onto his face. He was terrified at this moment, but surprised that he was not scared for his own life, but scared for Kiara, and Swara next to him, and even the Outsider Kovu. He wanted to help them, but he felt so helpless, so feeble. He had no keyblade, no method of fighting off these heartless or nobodies.

He opened his eyes and looked at a frightened Kiara as his body shook in sadness. What could he do now to help his foster-niece? What could any of them do to fight against the heartless? He and Swara were free to run, run all the way clear to Pride Rock, leaving Kiara and Kovu to the forty heartless and nobodies that surrounded them.

But there was no way Sora could even take one step in that direction, to leave the cubs to their fate would make him as bad as Sade was when Sade left Riku when they encountered those fiends.

Sora had been furious with Sade for leaving his friend.

But now what could he do? His fear that he could do nothing to help protect Kiara and Kovu and Swara, that he could do nothing to protect his friends or his family again was causing him to freeze. He was failing Simba, he was failing himself.

Just as he'd failed his mother and Kairi.

"What do you think they are Kiara?" Kovu's voice rang out, forcing Sora to look up to listen and watch them. Both lion cubs had their backs turned to the other, and were crouched down in defensive stances as the much larger heartless and nobodies growled and circled around them.

"I don't know," Kiara said, like Kovu unable to keep the fear out of her trembling voice. "But I think I'd rather go back after the crocodiles." Both of them gave weak and feeble laughs, but they were laughs nonetheless.

A Wild Dog heartless growled a little louder before giving a loud bark and rushing at Kovu, its jaws snapping angrily. Kovu backed a pace up quickly and reared in an instinctive counter, his right paw coming across with sharp obsidian claws leading. The wild dog's head twitched as the clawed paw batted it away, tendrils of darkness leaking out from where its face had been scratched.

Sora felt as if he'd just been simultaneously punched in the gut and slapped in the face as the wild dog heartless returned into the ring, yowling angrily. Here was this little lion cub, his back against that of a friend's and surrounded by unknown enemies that made his blood run cold, fighting against them with what he had. It painfully reminded Sora of when this whole new chapter of his life had begun, fighting against heartless with naught but a wooden sword.

If Kovu could and _would_ fight against heartless and nobodies without even knowing what they were, then who was he to stand aside and let both of them get their hearts taken?

Sora looked down at his paws with a sudden jerk and his tongue subconsciously ran over his teeth. He retracted his claws and for the first time realized just how great they and his teeth were as weapons; realized just how easily he could rip through heartless and nobodies with them.

Still crouching, Sora nudged his head ever so slightly towards Swara and whispered, "Stay out of sight."

He didn't even hear the question Swara asked as Sora turned his attention towards the ring of heartless and nobodies. One of the Lioness nobodies was advancing on Kiara, who was closest to Sora with the nobody on the cub's left, nearly directly in front of Sora.

He no longer cared that all forty enemies were larger than him. He no longer cared that he didn't have the keyblade, or that he'd probably die in this battle. He was afraid of death, for sure, but he was going to take as many of these damn creatures down with him so long as the three around him got out safely.

Snarling, Sora pounced from his hiding place in the grasses just as the lioness nobody made a lunge for Kiara. She noticed it at the last moment and hopped to the side and out of the way. At the same moment as her hop, Sora's flying lion body slid onto the back of the sleek nobody. He dug his claws in, making sure he ripped and slashed as much as possible with his far stronger and sharper automail. The nobody howled in pain and Sora slid off her back and his forward momentum slung him past the shoulders. His claws were still ripping into the lioness nobody as he slid, and when he went past the shoulder on the left side he found himself clinging to the creature's underside, presenting its neck directly in front of his head. Sora needed no prompting and dug his carnivorous teeth right into the jugular. The nobody thrashed wildly for several seconds, spinning and flailing, even ripping two of the wild dog heartless to shreds in its madness, but Sora kept his jaws clenched tightly, his teeth biting into the neck and his claws raking against the underbelly and shoulders of the nobody. Finally, the creature slowed and Sora released himself to roll onto the ground next to Kiara and Kovu. The lioness nobody gave a low moan and collapsed onto the ground before vanishing in an explosion of silver sparkles.

Sora stared defiantly into the ring of enemies he had now placed himself within. All of them now seemed to be eyeing him rather than Kiara or Kovu, the two cubs looking at him with astonishment.

A throaty growl escaped from Sora's throat. "Kiara," he said, "you and your friend have to get out of here. Find Simba."

"But," Kovu said, seeming more frightened at the prospect of meeting Simba rather than fighting these nobodies and heartless.

"Kovu, I don't give a damn!" Sora retorted, not caring that the young cub was now incredibly surprised that he knew his name. "Tell Simba _I_ sent you. And whatever you do keep Kiara safe! Swara, help them out!"

"But what about you?" Kiara asked, looking nervously at all of the enemies that were leering at Sora.

"I'll be fine," Sora assured her in a comforting tone. "Just go while I hold them off!" Before anyone else could get a word in against him, Sora dove straight for the nearest wild dog heartless and landed on its back. His claws were already tearing into it and drawing seeping tendrils of darkness from the wounds he was causing.

The next few seconds were utter chaos.

All thirty-six of the remaining heartless and nobodies (not counting the one whose back he was on) lunged for Sora, the wild dogs braying and snarling while the lionesses growled and roared. Each one of them was either bearing its teeth at him or brandishing claws sharp enough to tear through his skin like there was no tomorrow. Kiara and Kovu simultaneously ducked low to the ground as the beings flew over them and Swara rose and bolted towards the two cubs, her horns driving through the side of an errant wild dog.

"You heard him let's go!" Swara cried, flinging the wounded heartless off of her and stomping her hooves in front of the two lion cubs.

"But," Kovu muttered, looking at Sora.

"Go now!" the ashen-furred lion cub commanded, swiping his automail paw at the face of an oncoming wild dog while he desperately tried to keep his balance on the wounded and bucking one he was standing on. He glanced behind him and dove to the ground as three lioness nobodies and a wild dog heartless pounced on the back of the wild dog he had first attacked. That one vanished from underneath them in a puff of darkness.

Sora didn't see if they did what he asked, the bodies of thirty-some enemies in a massive pile and ring around him obscuring his vision quite a lot. He ripped a claw at the underside of a nobody he was standing underneath and bit into a foreleg. The nobody roared and flung Sora off of it and into the air. The gaping jaws of no less than four wild dogs jumped up to follow him. Sora twisted in the air and batted two of them away with his claws. One missed its mark and fell short. The third overstretched and Sora dug his claws into its shoulders and bit the heartless in the side. The stench and taste of the heartless' dark flesh was far worse than any amount of slime from slugs or snails. But still Sora ripped his mouth away, tearing off flesh from the heartless' side as it brought him back down to the ground in the gaggle of enemies.

He hit the ground hard as the heartless blew apart into darkness upon its own landing, and instinctively rolled to his right as a razor-sharp paw and a set of white teeth impaled the ground not a moment after he'd left. The lion cub swiped with his automail paw across the neck of a lioness nobody and it vanished into darkness. Sudden pain assailed him as snapping jaws grazed his right side. Sora turned and bit back at the heartless, ignoring the dreadful feeling of darkness in his mouth as his teeth connected with the larger creature's lower jaw.

He felt it being ripped out of his mouth as he was batted in the right side be a swiping paw, and his backbone felt the pain of crashing through six different sets of legs and causing those assorted nobodies and heartless to crash down, the sixth (a lioness) landing square on top of him. Winded, Sora mauled the face and side of the nobody with all four of his legs, not caring about the blood pouring down from the bite he'd received from that wild dog or the scratches on his back that the lioness gave him from her weakening paws.

The lioness, despite the pain it was evidently in, roared at him and prepared to clamp its jaws shut around him no matter what damage his claws had already caused to her face. At the last instant Sora stuck his automail limb into the maw of the entangled nobody and felt the teeth grinding against the metal, but doing nothing to it. Sora returned by biting it in the side of the neck and raking his right forepaw across the top of the head. He felt the weight vanish from him as the doomed being returned to the darkness.

Sora returned to his feet, his cerulean eyes blazing and adrenaline pumping through his veins. He tensed his leg muscles as a wild dog plowed into him and immediately began wrestling with the larger and physically more powerful heartless. But Sora was faster and able to twitch away every time the jaws came too close to a vital part of his body. And while the wild dog's claws nicked away at Sora's back and hind legs, Sora's cut deep into the beast's chest while he bit away at the joints of the forelegs.

He let out a pained gasp as his back crashed into a tree's trunk, the heartless pinning him there with its massive weight.

_End of the line bucko_, Anti chortled as the wild dog barked at him and prepared to deliver a final blow to Sora with its mighty canines. Sora's eyes hardened at Anti-Form's comment and he immediately disagreed, plunging his automail claw right through the heartless' throat. It gurgled for half a second before vanishing in a puff of dark smoke.

Limping, Sora got onto his feet, finding that there was blood on the back of the tree and staining his fur while dripping onto the ground around him, a trail of the scarlet liquid leading through the grass and dirt over the path through which he and the wild dog had wrestled. Thirty-one now remained standing against him, a few of the heartless and nobodies wounded from his claws or his teeth. The one that Swara impaled with her horns was still standing and snarling at him, and it charged forward at Sora, a loud howl preceding it.

Sora dropped onto the ground and rolled, throwing his automail leg out to trip the wild dog up. It worked and the heartless broke into the tree's trunk. It fell limply to the ground in a daze and Sora scratched his way onto the top of the shoulder and bit down into the neck. The heartless vanished in a puff of darkness a moment later.

His chest heaving, Sora turned and found that the now thirty remaining heartless and nobodies (seventeen nobodies and thirteen heartless) had encircled him in a ring again, much like they had done to Kovu and Kiara.

He didn't have time to think about them right now. All he had to think about was that he was fighting to defend them. He was fighting to buy them time to get away. He was fighting so that his friends could live in peace.

He would not stand by and let heartless and nobodies hurt those people and places he loved and cherished anymore! His mother may be gone and his home may have been destroyed, but there were still a hundred others he would give his life to protect from harm.

The heartless and nobodies growled, roared, and snarled at him as he glowered at them, his chest heaving while blood dripped down from his chest that was slowly being stained from white to red. His body ached and his wounds felt like they were on fire. But nothing could compare to the fire burning within Sora's heart right now.

He would not let these infernal creatures destroy all that was good and green in the worlds!

Sora felt a rumbling in his chest as the thirty foes surrounding him continued to pace around the tree he stood next to. He closed his eyes, the feeling familiar and yet unknown.

The heartless began to charge as the world seemed to slow for Sora. His mind stretched outwards on its own, and in the darkness he felt a thousands pricks of life lighting everything up.

The wild dogs snarled as they came closer, their shining teeth ready to feast on his heart and make him one of their own.

So much life… So much light…

Sora's eyes snapped open and he glared daggers at the heartless directly in front of them.

He would not let them smother it!

A volcano erupted within Sora's heart as his muzzle burst open, the brightest silver light he'd ever seen shining from his chest. He nearly split his own eardrums apart as he gave the roar of a proud and mighty lion, a roar fueled by the courageous heart that pounded in his chest and the brilliantly shining Crest of Valour that hung from around his neck. So monumental was his roar that even though it could not be heard from Pride Rock, four special people on the far-away world of Radiant Garden heard it and it brought smiles to their faces and his name to their lips.

The heartless were all flung backwards from the power of his roar, and vanished in puffs of dark smoke as they were defeated by it majesty. The lioness nobodies that remained tightened the circle around him, more cautious than they were before. They still snarled and prowled, but they did not attack.

Sora waited.

For a tense twenty seconds all the lionesses did was pace within their ring, circling the lion cub as his challenge went unanswered. Then three of the seventeen glanced at one for a split second and that lioness roared. It leapt at Sora, claws and teeth bared.

Sora jerked his head at the last instant and dug his paws into the ground.

His entire world was blinded by a flash of bright light for three long seconds as he felt his feet being pressed further into the ground, his right hind leg forcibly driven up against the wood of the tree's roots.

But he didn't feel the lioness nobody's weight smothering him. Instead he felt something metal grasped between his teeth with a noticeable weight on it.

The blinding light cleared, and Sora found himself holding a sparkling and breathtakingly real Kingdom Key in his jaws, the lioness nobody's limp body impaled upon it as it hung in midair for another second before vanishing into silver. Sora held the Kingdom Key in his mouth, feeling the power that returned into his body as his crest glowed with great intensity.

The Kingdom Key turned hot against his tongue and Sora yelped, letting it go. The blade fell onto the ground and began to glow with a magical golden light. It became obscured from Sora's vision as it glowed, but the sixteen nobodies that still circled him retreated back a few steps in caution.

Sora jerked his eyes closed as the light flared suddenly, and he slowly opened them a moment later to find his keyblade no longer glowing. But it was no longer the Kingdom Key either. Instead of that iconic keyblade there rested on the brown earth a blade silver as the moon. Its grip was the colour of oak and the guard was the most conventional of any keyblade Sora had yet held. Unlike the wooden sword Sora had used in his youth there was merely a bar crossguard and the blade, or the guards of every other keyblade he'd held where the guard circled entirely around his hands in some fashion, this keyblade that lay in front of Sora had an elaborate basket hilt guard of stunning bronze. There was a small pommel at the hilt's base, a blue tourmaline gemstone composing it. If Sora had the time, he could gaze into that gem for hours. The keyblade's blade itself was curved only slightly in the fashion of a scimitar, but was nice and slender unlike the scimitar he'd seen the palace guards in Agrabah using. Forming the tip was a small and silver seven-pointed star.

Three thin golden lines weaved their way from the pommel to the guard before splitting into six and running straight down the blade with three on each side before joining together into the centre of the star, the very centre of which was golden. Sora looked down at the keychain that hung from the blade's tourmaline pommel, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw that it was in the shape of his very own silver crown pendant.

A throaty growl from his front reminded him that there was still a battle to be fought as sixteen lioness nobodies still surrounded him. He summoned his new keyblade into his tail's tight grasp as the new guard would not do well to bite on.

"Come on," he growled at the nobodies, feeling the power flowing within him. "Come and try me!" He roared again, feeling the rumble of his heart as a lion's roar burst out of his throat once more.

The lioness nobodies roared at his challenge and rushed straight for him.

Sora countercharged the lead one, the pain of his injuries gone. He ducked and spun around, cleaving his keyblade through the head of the nobody as if it were nothing. It vanished into a shimmering mist of silver a second after Sora had already moved on to the next one, keeping its claws at bay with his automail leg while arching his keyblade into its side. The lioness howled in pain before Sora took his sword from its side and ran it through half of the underbelly in an upwards slash.

Sora turned with his blade held high to watch as three more of the nobodies dashed towards him from his left. He leveled out his keyblade towards them and let loose some of the power that he'd felt himself imbued with. Three jets of roaring, silver fire blazed out of the star of his keyblade. They traversed towards the nobodies in three swinging crescents, and struck home into raging infernos that died seconds after impact, revealing that there was nothing remaining of the nobodies.

Sora was surprised for the duration the silver fire had illuminated his face. He'd never produced fire of that colour before…

"Thundaga!" he yelled, turning suddenly and pointing his keyblade at another two that were rushing towards him. Familiar electricity crackled and barreled out of the blade in twisting torrents that struck the two lionesses. They both stopped, stunned by the impact. Sora rushed at both of them and jumped, stretching his claws out wide and raking through the back of one while slicing his keyblade through the other.

Sora landed again as both of them vanished into the darkness from which they were formed and spun around, roaring again in challenge to the remaining nine.

Instead of the nobodies roaring back, they were all destroyed as another powerful roar echoed back against him. This roar was not like the noble roar that he had produced from his heart, daring his enemies to face him so that he may keep them off of Kiara and Kovu for as long as was possible. This roar was savage and filled with anger, and held some power over the land that Sora had not seen before except when he and Simba had enacted their unique Limit. The roar had caused great rocks from the bones of the world to break free from the ground and pierce through each nobody that faced against Sora. The keyblade master looked around in confusion for the source of the roar, and his eyes located a sight that caused him to quake in frustration.

He saw a male lion lying atop a cliff, his dark reddish-brown fur and black mane swaying in a wind. A scar ran vertically over his left eye, the green of which was gazing at him in amusement.

"So," Scar purred. "The little kitty does have bite after all."

"What are you doing here Scar?" Sora yelled.

Scar appeared to pay him little interest from his perch on the cliff-side, definitely not the reaction Sora had anticipated given the roar he had let out against him. There appeared to be something more intriguing in the lion's nails than the lion cub who was glaring at him, wholly confident that he should be dead.

"Someone's not keeping up on the times," Scar said, looking back down at Sora. "Otherwise you might know that my name is now Xarcs."

"Xarcs huh?" Sora said, allowing his keyblade to vanish from his tail's grip. "So you're a Nobody now? Guess I should have expected that stunt from you."

"Oh it's hardly a stunt Sora," Xarcs replied. "After all, if it wasn't for you and my dear nephew, I wouldn't have become this way." He paused and chuckled a little bit to himself, and Sora felt the ground tremble slightly beneath his paws. "So in a way I should really be thanking you keyblade master. For if Simba didn't defeat me, I would never have turned into a heartless, and if I had never turned into a heartless, you and your friends would never have joined with Simba to defeat my heartless. Since you did though, apart from my desire to find my heart you have also given me a burning desire for… revenge!"

Sora felt the trees shake and the wind blow fiercely as Xarcs proclaimed this, and he shook his head.

"Well," he muttered, "at least you haven't met up with Nixion yet then."

But his words were blown up to Xarcs by the wind and the lion nobody raised an eyebrow in interest. "Nixion hm?"

_Crap!_

"Well if this 'Nixion' bears a vendetta against you, perhaps I should meet this person," Xarcs said, a portal of darkness opening behind him. "It seems that while I have grown far stronger, so have you."

Xarcs stretched as he got up from his position on the cliff and yawned quite loudly. "Give my regards to my nephew will you?" Without another word, he turned into the portal before it closed behind him.

Sora shook his head and turned towards the nearest spire of rock that Xarcs had produced from his roars. Calling his keyblade into his tail, already very pleased of the feel of the grip of the familiar weapon in his grasp, he slashed at the rock. His sword broke upon it with a violent crash and there was a silver flash as the blade pierced right through. The spire crumbled and fell around Sora.

Why did Scar have to be back for a third time? Couldn't he just stay dead?

"Sora!"

He turned his head at the voice, incredulous at whose it was. He would have expected Simba to be the one to call his name, or Nala, or Timon or Pumbaa.

Never would he have thought that it would be Swara returning solely with Kiara and Kovu, without the King of Pride Rock in sight.

"What are you three doing here?" Sora asked, bewildered that they hadn't returned with Simba.

"Never mind that," Swara said, looking in shock at the keyblade grasped within Sora's tail, "what is _that_?"

Sora realized what it was that Swara was looking at, and he gained a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as Swara looked back and forth between his automail leg and keyblade in rapid succession.

"I can explain," he said. He knew it was futile the moment he said it.

"How did you-?" Swara began to ask, shaking her head as it all went beyond her comprehension. "There's no way you should have been able to survive…"

"Swara…" Sora began slowly, taking a step towards her.

The young gazelle jerked her head quickly and took three back in exchange. "Who are you?" she asked. Sora could only open his mouth and wordlessly shake it while it hung limply on his neck. He couldn't immediately think of a time he'd felt as ashamed as now when his ears picked up the sound of Swara's hooves galloping away.

Painfully, he looked up at Kovu and Kiara. Kovu was looking at him in disbelief, and even with a little fright, while Kiara's eyes held pride and admiration.

"That's my uncle," she whispered to Kovu. Sora shook his head as he heard her whisper.

"Kovu!" he said sharply. The green-eyed lion cub looked up at him quickly and sat erect, trying his best not to look intimidated or afraid. Sora almost smiled, but the corners of his mouth still twitched while he nodded repeatedly at the Outsider. "Thank you."

Kovu blinked suddenly and took a tentative step forward. "Huh?"

"You'd best go back to the Outlands," Sora went on, looking at the wastes. "We don't want Simba to have found out that you came here do we?"

"No sir!" Kovu said in a worried tone, his paws already beginning to carry him back to his home. "Bye Kiara!"

"Bye Kovu!" Kiara returned, watching him go.

"Now as for _you_," Sora began sternly. Kiara shrunk down from him in shame.

"Go back to Pride Rock," Sora said, his tone lightening. Kiara nodded and without further delay began to make her way back to her own home as the Sun began to set.

She paused a little ways out and looked back at Sora. "Are you coming?"

"In my own time," Sora answered. "Now hurry on home!" Kiara nodded and continued running back through the Pride Lands.

Sora sighed and limped a few paces as the pain from his wounds returned to him, forgotten in the feeling that his glowing crest and the keyblade's return had given him. He directed the keyblade that was still being clutched by his tail towards his body and briefly muttered a cure spell. He felt relief as the magic green tendrils washed over him, closing his shallow wounds and easing the deeper ones. But the pain in his heart seeing the look of betrayal on his friend's face could not be eased by the cure spell.

Sora slowly made his way back through the Pride Lands as the Sun's light slowly slipped back beneath the horizon and the twinkling stars came out along with the nearly full moon for the first night since Sora had arrived. This marked the end of his last day in the Pride Lands before King Mickey would pick him up tomorrow, the twenty-seventh of September. He had done what he had come here to do. He had recalled the keyblade to himself.

So why did he not feel as good as he thought he should feel?

"Ow!"

Sora brought his paw up to his head after he felt a rock strike it. Looking up in annoyance, he saw Rafiki swinging up in a tree, singing in a tongue Sora did not understand.

"_Asante sana;  
Squash banana!  
We we nugu;  
Mi mi apana__!_"

Turning aside, Sora began grumbling to himself. He did not want to have to deal with the monkey right now. Not at all.

"Will you cut that out Rafiki?" Sora asked agitatedly, as the persistent mandrill continued to follow him as the lion cub made his way towards a distant forest, chanting to himself.

"Can't cut it out," Rafiki laughed, "it come right back."

"Well will you stop following me," said Sora, getting thoroughly agitated at Rafiki's insistence on keeping him company as the monkey was now striding on his feet next to him. "Who do you think you are to do this to me anyway?"

Rafiki came right in front of Sora and stopped him by placing his finger directly on Sora's nose. "Ah, but the question is: Who are _you_?"

Sora stopped and looked down at the ground. He'd been getting that question a lot lately, and even after calling the keyblade back to himself, he still hadn't found an answer.

"I used to know," he mumbled. "But now, I don't think I do."

"Come closer," said Rafiki in a secretive tone, "because I know." He drew Sora closer to himself, but once Sora's ear was right against his mouth the lion cub was disappointed. All that Rafiki said was that ridiculous chant of his again. "_Asante sana, squash banana! We we nugu, mi mi apana!_"

"What does that mean anyway?" asked Sora in frustration, taking a few paces away from Rafiki.

"It means you are a baboon, and I am not," Rafiki answered, chuckling and holding onto his staff for support.

"I think age has made you confused," Sora replied, trying his best not to smile at the silliness of the translation.

"I am not the one who is confused," Rafiki countered, "you do not even know who you are!"

Sora scoffed sarcastically. "Oh, and I suppose you do?"

"Sure do," Rafiki answered. "You're Anne's son."

Sora froze in his tracks and whipped around, staring at the old mandrill with disbelief as he uttered the word 'bye' and dashed through the rolling grasses. "Hey, wait!" Sora chased after Rafiki, the buffalo grass tickling his nose and the sound of the automail clicking in his ears.

This was impossible! There was no way Rafiki should be able to know his mother's name. No conceivable probability that she had ever met Rafiki before.

He reached the monkey, calmly sitting on the ground in a meditative lotus position with his eyes closed. He had to ask. "You knew my mother?"

"Correction," Rafiki answered slowly and wisely. "I _know_ your mother."

Sora dipped his head. "I hate to tell you this, but she died about a month ago."

"Nope!" Rafiki said suddenly, grabbing his staff. "Wrong again!" He got up faster than Sora's eyes could see and laughed. "She's alive!" he proclaimed, "And I show her to you. You follow old Rafiki, he knows the way!"

Sora chased after Rafiki as the mandrill laughed and led him into the forest they had been going towards. The brambles and vines snatched and clawed at Sora as he struggled to make his way through after Rafiki. Why, oh why were things still surprising him? He thought he'd seen it all, done it all, and now here comes Rafiki claiming that his mom was still alive? This was impossible; this was insane!

"Stop!" Rafiki suddenly said, abruptly appearing in front of Sora and holding out his hand. Sora skidded to a stop, his nose barely in front of the monkey's stopping hand. Rafiki turned away from Sora and used his staff to part a large curtain of vines.

"Down there," Rafiki instructed ominously, revealing a pool at the edge of the forest.

Anxiously, Sora began to approach the pool, unsure of if he wanted to see this, if he wanted to know that his mother was still alive. What would she _say_?

Shuddering at the huge number of horrendous things she could say to him, especially at having lost his leg, Sora decided that he would rather be scolded than not hear his mother's voice at all. Slowly, he bent down and looked into the pool, only to see a grey lion cub with chocolate hair wearing a silver crown pendant and a silver crest that now had only the faintest traces of light in it staring back up at him.

Sora sighed and retracted his gaze from the pool. "That's not her," he said painfully, "it's just my reflection."

"No," said Rafiki, gently placing his hand on Sora to draw his attention before turning a long finger towards the pool and tapping it. "Look _harder_."

Sora looked back as the water rippled, and his eyes widened. He was no longer looking upon a lion cub, but upon himself as a human! He strained his eyes in disbelief as it then melded away from his own image and that into a woman with a kind face, shoulder-length chocolate hair, and eyes that had retained the colour from the image of himself.

"You see," said Rafiki as Sora looked in awe upon the image of his mother, "she lives in you."

"_Sora."_

Sora looked up from the pool as he heard his mother's voice in the wind above him. "Mom?" he asked, the very same anxious quiver in his trembling voice that had been present when he'd first returned after defeating Xemnas.

The wind rushed around him and Sora turned, watching it swirl and turn in a central spot near the forest's edge. Sora felt his eyes began to tear as he saw an apparition of Anne fading into existence in front of him. He hadn't seen something like it since Roxas left him, but right now, his thoughts were as far away from his twin as could be.

"Sora," Anne's spectre said warmly, opening her arms slightly.

The next thing he knew he was running straight for his mother's arms, not noticing or caring that his body was changing back into that of a human's, not wanting or caring for anything more than for the feel of his mother's comforting arms around him.

His two legs carried him right to Anne, and his mind dimly registered that even though she appeared transparent it felt as if she was really there. Sora wrapped his arms around his mother's midriff in a loving hug, to which he was glad was emphatically returned in full.

"I've missed you Mom," Sora whispered, his voice nearly breaking. "I've missed you _so_ much."

"I've missed you too sweetie," Anne replied. She hugged her son close, her voice hushing and calming him.

Sora nestled his head in his mother's transparent hair, feeling how soft it was. "I never said it Mom," he uttered quietly. "I never said it and I never showed it as much as I should have."

"What is it Sora?" Anne asked knowingly, softly stroking the back of his head and rubbing his back.

"I love you Mom," Sora replied, clutching onto her as if for dear life. She gently bent her neck down slightly and tenderly kissed her son's forehead, tears starting to come from her own eyes.

"I love you too Sora," she replied. "I have always loved you. And I also forgive you."

Sora struggled slightly, fidgeting. "What do you mean?"

"It was my time Sora," Anne replied, her voice nearly cracking as she tried to convey this to her son. "If you were there, nothing you would have done could have stopped Cossex from doing what she did."

Sora shuddered in her arms and wept silently. "I know."

"Then why have you insisted that you could have saved me if you were there?" Anne asked curiously.

Sora could barely shrug his shoulders. "I-I don't know," he replied shakily. "I think because-"

"Because you had stopped listening to what your heart was telling you?" Anne supplied with a sad and somber smile on her face.

Sora was silent for several seconds before finding no way around the undeniable truth. "Yes," he answered.

"Sora," began his mother in a soft voice. "You have forgotten who you are."

"I can no longer see," Sora mumbled. "Who am I Mom? Am I the Keyblade Master? Am I a boy from Destiny Islands? Am I a Hero or a Washout? Am I-"

Anne shushed him with a finger placed against his lips. "You are Sora. You are my and your father's son."

"Mac," Sora whispered to himself, "Dad." Anne smiled and bent down a bit so that she could look her son in the eyes.

"No matter what title you bear," she went on, "no matter what weapon you wield, what you may do, who you date, who you befriend, who you love, who you may come to marry, who you may lose or kill or even who you may save, know this:

"I am proud of you Sora."

The fifteen year old youth's eyes widened slightly as the apparition of his mother smiled teary-eyed but happy at him in the starlight.

"I am proud of you son," Anne said again. "And I will always be proud of you." She held out her hands and Sora backed a step away. Into her ghostly hands the keyblade that the Kingdom Key had morphed into appeared, balanced perfectly in his mother's slender hands.

"I have learned much since I died," his mother said sadly, but her voice gained strength as she went on. "But this keyblade was forged over a hundred years ago for _you_ Sora." Her son looked at the blade in awe as she continued. "Like the Oblivion keyblade that you have normally held, this keyblade is yours, bearing your crown pendant. It is the Oblivion keyblade that you could not call when you could not hear the words of your heart, and it was this one that came to you when you remembered how to listen."

She turned the hilt towards Sora, resting the pommel just shy of his trembling hands. "This keyblade's name is _Remembrance_."

"Remembrance," Sora echoed, taking the keyblade in his hands before letting it vanish. His mother hugged him again, and Sora fell into her embrace and wept once more, for he knew this would be the last one.

"I don't want to lose you," Sora whispered.

"But you never will," Anne comforted him with a smile. "Wherever you go, I'm always with you."

"Kairi said the same thing once," Sora blurted out.

"Did she now?" Anne asked with interest. "And was she right?"

Sora smiled and nestled himself a little closer into his mother's embrace. "She was. I can feel her with me even now." Anne kissed her son's forehead again and rubbed his back.

"Feel what you want to feel Sora," she said. "Not what you think you should feel." She tapped a finger on his forehead to reiterate the point before poking him in the heart.

"Who do you take me for?" Sora asked in a laugh with a grin. Anne giggled slightly.

"Your father's son," she whispered. "You are only who you want to be. Remember that Sora."

"I will," Sora answered slowly, breathing in long, calming draughts. He could feel his mother slipping away from his embrace as she faded back to where she had come from.

"_Therlyenë_," Anne's soft voice said.

"Wait!" Sora asked quickly. "What does that mean?"

"What does your heart tell you?" his mother's voice came back in an almost teasing tone. Sora paused and closed his eyes.

"It means 'I love you'," he answered quietly, almost too quietly for himself to hear.

He felt himself shrinking again as fur grew onto his body and he collapsed onto all fours, once more a lion cub. Sora felt the soft ground underneath his paws, but his eyes were up at the stars. Rafiki was no longer here, but Sora didn't mind, enjoying the peace of the night that was bathed in starlight and moonlight.

"Sora?"

The young keyblade master turned at the soft sound of Simba's voice and footsteps. Simba's eyes were also up on the stars, calmly surveying them. "They live in us Sora," Simba said quietly.

"Yeah," Sora replied. "Your father, and my mother. And even Kairi's and Riku's parents too. I don't know why I couldn't see it before."

"They're always with us," Simba said knowingly. "They're watching over everything we see. In every creature, and in every star." Simba snorted slightly. "In your reflection even."

"How did you figure it out?" Sora asked. "You left us for a little while after you saw Mufasa in the clouds."

Simba laughed. "There used to be a little bump on my head, courtesy of Rafiki."

"Just be glad you're so thick-headed."

"Why you little!"

Sora laughed at Simba's outburst and flung himself at the much larger lion, sending Simba sprawling to the ground as the keyblade master tackled him. Sora quickly got off of Simba and started running.

"Bet you can't beat me back to Pride Rock!" Sora yelled.

"Hey come back here!" Simba retorted, giving chase. "There's something I need you to do for me tomorrow before you go." Sora paused and Simba whispered something into his ear.

Sora stopped dead and stared at Simba. "Could you say that again?" Simba only smiled and repeated it to Sora as the moon shone down on the two foster brothers.

Sora didn't move for another second, but then a smile so large his face should have broken just from a logistical standpoint exploded into existence over his muzzle and he tackled Simba, laughing in delirious bliss. His smile even remained the whole night as he slept in the den of Pride Rock.

What Simba had told Sora made him the happiest person in all existence in that moment.

-A-D-

_Yeah, it was long. But we're down to the last three chapters; they HAVE to be long._

_I credit DarthKingdom for the Wild Dog heartless. Thanks Darth, they're great to use._

_I don't really feel the need to beg for reviews anymore, seeing as I have so many people who regularly review and such. I just like seeing faces both new and old giving me comments and feedback._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	22. Awaiting Trial and Day One

_Just this and one more chapter to go before I can start up __**The War**__ again. Let me tell you something. There hasn't been much action in this one as compared to a bit more drama. Not excellent drama mind you, but more drama than action nonetheless. I'm definitely going to make it up to you in __**The War**__. While it may start off a tad slow like __**The Beginning**__ did, we will start picking up on the action pretty quickly._

_Catch the JAG and Red Dwarf references if you can!_

_And I apologize for the delay but I decided to help my sister move last weekend instead of finishing and updating. So I'm updating now because I want to and also to give youguys a chance to read through more of this chapter. Also, since my twin sis and I just got KH Re:Chain of Memories, we're both going through KH1 again before going into Re:CoM so I want to continue on my game in that._

_Still had to beat the Stealth Sneak for her in Deep Jungle though._

_I also in no way pretend to know the full proceedings of a criminal trial. This is my best interpretation of one in order to develop the story._

_Now then, the traditional disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, or any of the regular stuff I use for this fic._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter XXII: Awaiting Trial and Day One

Kairi groaned as she stirred from unconsciousness, restlessly rolling around on her back. Her body was in pain, felt like the pain seemed to come from everywhere at once and yet from nowhere, for she couldn't determine if she was even in pain or not, all her nerves alerting her that she was.

Kairi refused to open her eyes, not wanting to know if she was still in that hellish nightmare of a place, where that bald man, who had at first been at least marginally polite, had beaten her. She couldn't understand why her keyblade didn't answer her when she called it, why her magic had abandoned her when she tried to use it. It was not her time of the month yet, so there was no reason for why she couldn't have been able to fight back against him.

And yet she still hadn't been able to. She now completely understood what Sora must be feeling, unable to summon his weapon and fight to protect himself, fight to protect the worlds, his friends.

Unable to protect her…

_Sora,_ she thought quietly, _you'd do just about anything to keep me safe, wouldn't you?_

She almost allowed her eyes to open, but she'd rather not have them betray her when her thoughts were swimming between images of Sora doing horrible things to the man who'd beaten her.

_You'd do just about anything to protect me Sora, but if you aren't here, and you don't know about it, what am I supposed to do if I can't handle myself?_

Kairi gave a shuddering sigh, feeling the various aches and bruises on her body from the punches and kicks he'd thrown at her.

"Oh you're awake."

Kairi's eyes snapped open and she looked in the direction of the voice.

"Namis, she's awake again," said Crysta Jenkins, standing outside of her cell's doors. Groaning in relief, Kairi placed a hand to the back of her head and sat up, finding that she was in the twin bed against the wall with the blankets overtop of her. But even the semi-softness of them couldn't help ease the pain of strikes she'd suffered.

"What time is it?" Kairi moaned, feeling her leg with the other hand. She grimaced at the uncouth feeling the hair on her legs gave her while she searched for the scab that had formed over where the man's boot had caused her leg to bleed. Oh what she wouldn't give to have a razor and a bottle of strawberry scented lotion and moisturizer.

Neither Sora nor Riku had any clue that the reason she always smelled of strawberries was from the lotion and moisturizer she used when shaving her legs and that the vanilla came from the conditioner she put into her hair. She still needed to keep some secrets from her boys. They could think what they thought all they wanted; think it was perfume, magic, or that it was just inherently there. But she only smelled of strawberries when she had nice, smooth, and even creamy legs. That was the price she had to pay for constantly wearing dresses and skirts that showed off her legs, to look good and smell so good that Sora drooled.

She stifled a giggle from the thought of him drooling at her while she would flick her hair to one side and bat her eyes at him. Kairi knew she looked good, knew that she could knock Sora over with a simple breath if she wanted, but she also knew that one grin from him could cause her knees to buckle.

Shaking her head to clear it of thoughts of her hero for the moment, Kairi's fingers ran over the scab and she frowned in pain as she gently pressed against it with her forefinger. The skin around it was terribly sore and if Kairi would have looked down she would have noticed that it was a sickly shade of purple that looked almost green in some spots.

"What time is it?" Kairi croaked again, surprised at how scratchy her voice sounded. Marie Namis came over next to Jenkins as she stood watch by the door and fumbled with the keys to Kairi's cell. She finally got it unlocked and then bent down for a pitcher of water and glass.

"It's o-eight twenty-three on Thursday, September the twenty-fifth," Jenkins replied, looking at her watch while Namis gave Kairi the water. Kairi drank in surprise.

"I've been out of it for hours," she said, rubbing a hand on her throat as her voice still sounded a little off. She coughed and drank a bit more water, practicing with her voice until it sounded like normal.

"You look a right mess your majesty," Namis said, her eyes flicking between six separate bruises on her face and arms.

"Well blame that idiot who was interrogating me," Kairi replied, wincing as one pain spiked suddenly before returning to normal. "As soon as Sora finds out, he's going to kill him."

"That wouldn't be good," said Jenkins. "Then he'd be arrested."

"Well, can't he at least rough him up a little?" Kairi asked, shrugging her shoulders. She cringed again as more pain attacked her. "Why can't I summon my keyblade or use magic here? I'd really like to use a nice cure spell right now."

"These chambers were built with enchantments upon them to prevent magic from being used by prisoners and those being interrogated," Namis replied. "The laboratories and research rooms and Ansem the Wise's study, as well as some of the halls, are all safe for the use of magic, but the rest is completely magic-proof."

"That's not good then," Kairi moaned. "Because yesterday hurts a lot."

"I've got a potion," Namis replied, fishing around her person for the article.

"No that's alright," Kairi said, "there are a few in my purse. I think I might need to stock up on them though. I didn't get that many the last time Sora and I were in town, but we also didn't use many either."

Jenkins went for Kairi's black purse as it lay on top of the small writing desk and unsnapped it. Pulling the flap up, she dug her hand into it and within a second withdrew the small green bottle. She took the top nozzle off and handed it to Kairi instead of simply spraying it as a mist over the princess. Kairi looked at it inquiringly as she stared at the liquid. It was somewhat less viscous than water as she swirled it around within the bottle, but at least it wasn't like molasses.

"Spraying it won't get rid of bruises," Namis explained as Jenkins took a quick look outside the cell to listen. "And drinking it won't either, but it will at least help the swelling in your leg go down and the internal damage you suffered will be repaired faster." Kairi nodded and dipped her head back, slowly draining the bottle as the potion slowly eased down her throat.

She swallowed and gasped, making a face as she hung her head in the opposite direction.

"How'd it go?" Namis asked politely, smiling as she took the bottle from the princess.

"Horribly," Kairi answered, sticking her tongue out of her mouth and shuddering with a fake gagging noise. She took the glass of water again and downed it, then filled it up again, and emptied it into her stomach once more.

"Tastes that bad huh?" Jenkins asked, looking back into the cell. Kairi scrunched her eyes together and opened them again, blinking rapidly for a few seconds as she tried to make sure that all of the potion had at last made it down instead of lingering in her mouth for her to inadvertently taste again.

"I want to talk to Naminé," Kairi said.

"Your sister the other princess?" Namis asked incredulously before shaking her head. "We can't do that. You aren't allowed to see her."

"I don't want to see her," Kairi reiterated, "I just want to talk to her."

"We still can't let you go up into the castle or bring Princess Naminé down here," Jenkins said apologetically. "It's against the law."

"Well can you at least get me to a place that allows me to use magic?" Kairi asked. Both guards shared significant looks with each other. Jenkins' right hand went off to somewhere where Kairi couldn't see, and Namis' hand began to stray towards the sword sheathed on her hip.

"No it's not like that," Kairi said pleadingly. "If I called my keyblade and escaped from you both I'd only be in a hell of a lot more trouble and I don't want that. But if I get to a place that allows magic I'd be able to speak to Naminé through a connection in our hearts. That's all."

"That's all?" Jenkins asked sharply.

"Well not entirely," Kairi muttered. "My conscious mind goes inside of my heart while I do this, so on the outside it would look just like I'm in a very deep trance, so I've been told."

"Alright," Jenkins said, looking around and listening anxiously. "But we'll make it quick." She jerked her head and Marie helped Kairi out of the bed, the flickering torchlight that lit the dungeon making the light brown leather armour of the two guards appear golden for a moment.

Kairi shook her head to get the image out of her mind. Her mouth could still remember the potion's taste and the firelight was beginning to play with her mind. Despite being unconscious for hours, her body was still craving rest to deal with the injuries she had sustained.

Namis and Jenkins hastily opened the door at the end of the corridor, glancing behind them cautiously just to be sure, and led Kairi out into the halls of the castle's underbelly. It took them only a couple of minutes, but soon they came to an offshoot passage that was lit by the glowing magical orbs. Kairi's eyes had already been drooping somewhat on the way, the pain dulling her senses and mind more than forcibly keeping her awake.

"Here," Namis said, indicating the orbs that stood in pedestals alongside the walls. Kairi squinted against the bright light, but closed her eyes and leaned against the wall.

_Naminé_, she called with her mind. A familiar presence suddenly touched her consciousness.

_Kairi!_ Naminé's voice exclaimed in her head. _I've been trying to reach you for ages! What are-_

_Can we go into our hearts to do this Nami?_ Kairi asked, wincing at the loudness of Naminé's voice. _I don't want to just hear you, I want to see you._

Kairi took a deep breath and withdrew into her heart, opening her eyes and seeing that she now stood upon her stained glass platform, the image of herself and Sora standing on a field with two horses running free in front of them in her eyes. She briefly wondered why there would be two horses there instead of chocobos, and the blue capes hanging around both of their necks still caught her eye. But it then turned sadly towards the metal left arm on the image of Sora, knowing that it had come true and that she was the cause of it.

Kairi shook her head. No. Maleficent was the cause, she merely facilitated the destruction and recreation of Sora's automail limb.

A bright white light started to glow around the heart that held Sora's head within it and Kairi turned to look at Sora's spirit that appeared from within. He was dressed in a white robe and his arms were crossed as he looked at Kairi. The blue in his eyes were as wild as a furious sea, and the fingers on both of his arms (one Kairi now noted as being the automail one the real Sora now had) were tapping against his elbows.

"He's going to kill that guy when he finds out," Sora grumbled truthfully, his eyes fixed on a large purplish bruise on Kairi's right cheek. Kairi couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Don't we both know it?" she said. Sora twitched his head and looked away.

"The fool," Sora said quietly. "He's actually listening to that creep."

Kairi frowned. "What creep?" Sora looked up quickly.

"Huh?"

"You, you just said that Sora was listening to some creep," Kairi answered.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Sora said, waving it off. "It's just some animal he's been talking to in the Pride Lands that creeps me out. You can ask him if you want when Naminé draws him into the conference you're about to have in… three…two…one." He twitched his finger and Kairi felt her mind being tugged away from her platform and onto the golden one instead.

Only Naminé was standing there right now, and Kairi felt a bubble of happiness rush through her when she saw her sister's face. Naminé's though, couldn't have been more different, attaining a horrified expression as soon as she laid eyes on Kairi.

"What the heck happened to you?" Naminé asked, her stomach lurching inwardly and a hand coming to her mouth. Kairi looked down.

"There was this… this guy from the Anti-Monarchists of Radiant Garden Party," Kairi mumbled.

"AMers," Naminé said. Kairi looked quizzically at her sister, one hand lightly tugging on a few strands of her auburn hair.

"What?"

"AMers," Naminé repeated proudly, putting her hands behind her back and rolling slightly onto her heels while smiling to herself and looking off into the black sky. "Anti-Monarchisters. I figured that AMRGPers would be a little hard to pronounce so I shortened it to AMers." Kairi stared at the other princess of Radiant Garden for a second.

"That's brilliant Naminé!" she exclaimed. "Then it was nothing but a stupid AMer who did this to me while interrogating me."

"Interrogated you?" Naminé asked, frowning at Kairi and coming close to stand right in front of Kairi. "What about? If they've arrested you, shouldn't they already know just about everything?"

"They know everything except for what any of us could say," Kairi replied. "He knew that I destroyed Sora's arm with my light. He knew that I called Maleficent to Radiant Garden to surrender to her. He knew the terms I offered her. But what he did not know was why I did any of it."

"Did you tell him?" Naminé asked in concern.

"Well first he started attacking me while we were talking about Sora and Riku's birthday presents to me for our sixteenth," Kairi said, winking at Naminé when she said the word 'our'. "And then he called me a bunch of awful names I don't even want to think about, giving me a punch or kick or slap with each of them. Throughout all of this he was yelling at me about how the both of us shouldn't exist and Radiant Garden and the worlds would be better off without us, or that we should just run off to Destiny Islands or Twilight Town and screw our boyfriends and never bother Radiant Garden again with our names and titles of Princess."

Naminé had gently wrapped her arms around Kairi by this point, for the auburn-haired princess could barely continue with her shaking and sobbing voice.

"I don't know when I began to cry," Kairi mumbled sadly. "But when I did it only angered him even more. And then he started telling me all he knew and asking me why I did any of it. I was just able to answer that I'd never tell him before he kicked me hard in the chest and I lost all my breath. He stormed out and I think I lost consciousness only a short time after that."

"There, there Kairi," Naminé said, patting the back of her sister's head. "He's gone now. And we have to be strong." Kairi rubbed her eyes and sniffled, pulling back slightly from Naminé.

"We have to be strong," continued Naminé. "For ourselves, for the other princesses of heart, for Radiant Garden and the other worlds. And for the boys," Naminé added, grinning at Kairi.

Kairi laughed slightly at Naminé's comment about being strong for the guys. She nodded her head and took a few deep breaths.

"Thanks sis," she said, smiling at Naminé. Naminé paused for a second and looked strangely at Kairi before she softened.

"Anytime, sis," Naminé returned, smiling back shyly. Her eyes took a mischievous glitter. "Did he really say that we should screw Roxas and Sora?"

"Yeah," Kairi replied, her face turning a delicate shade of cherry.

"Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea later," said Naminé, her own porcelain white cheeks looking very much like sakura blossoms.

"Naminé!" Kairi scolded. But, unable to deny the adolescent thoughts going through her head, she smiled. "I like the way you think."

Naminé only laughed. "We think alike," she said. "I was you once, remember?"

_How would I ever be able to forget?_

_You can't. Now, should I call the others into here?_

"If you do they'll all freak out at how I look," Kairi answered aloud, and a bit shyly. "Can we use magic to try and fix my appearance so they won't see the bruises?"

"It won't be permanent," Naminé sighed. "As soon as they see you in real life Riku and Roxas are going to be pissed."

"Why them?"

"They'll see you before Sora does," Naminé answered simply. "Now all you have to do is imagine yourself without the bruises on your skin and they won't be visible."

"That's pretty hard to do Nami," Kairi answered dryly. Naminé sighed and tugged a little bit at a strand of white blonde hair that had passed in front of her eyes.

"I'll see what I can do," she said, placing a hand gently to Kairi's cheek. Kairi felt her memories of herself before any of this started, before they'd received the letter in the bottle from King Mickey, flow freely past her mind. The memories of living on Destiny Islands, wanting to see Sora again more than anything, of being grounded after returning from The World That Never Was. She saw herself as she looked out of the mirror that had stood in her room, not a single unsightly blemish upon her body.

"There," Naminé said as the memories faded back into Kairi's mind. "You can't even tell anymore that that man touched you." The former nobody stepped back to take another look at Kairi, and the auburn haired princess smiled at her.

"Thank you again, Naminé," she said appreciatively. Naminé paused slightly and looked away.

"I should be the one thanking you," she said quietly, rubbing her hands over her arms.

Kairi looked at her curiously and took a tentative step towards the girl. "Naminé?"

"Do you know how good it feels to help people you love Kairi?" Naminé asked suddenly, spinning around and looking straight at Kairi. Kairi stopped as she looked into the eyes of her sister, surprised at how they shined with a thin sheath of moisture around them.

"Do you know how good it feels _to_ love Kairi?" Naminé continued. "To simply be able to love?" Kairi looked down slightly.

"All I can tell you is how good it feels to be in love," she answered. "Otherwise, I don't really know."

"I know I've told you this before Kairi," Naminé said. "But when I was in Castle Oblivion, and when I was working with Ansem the Wise, not once did Marluxia or Larxene or DiZ ever thank me for what I did. I was simply a tool to them, a means to accomplish an end. Whether it was a rebellion against the Organization, or the recovery of Sora from what I had done to him to destroy the Organization, never had I been thanked by them or complimented to my face. Riku barely thanked me for what I was doing either, but by that point he had taken up the name of 'Ansem' and looked like Xehanort's heartless."

"As it turned out, Axel, Roxas, Sora, and you were the only ones who ever tried to make friends with me. I had only ever heard the words 'thank you Naminé' a few times before you thanked me when you were on the Altar of Naught." Naminé shook her head and rubbed the salty liquid away from her eyes.

"Naminé…" Kairi began, taking another step towards Naminé.

"I never knew before how wonderful it felt to feel happiness," Naminé mentioned quietly. "You wouldn't know. You've spent your whole life knowing. But, Roxas and I are really only a year and a bit old, though our bodies look around sixteen. And the time we've actually spent feeling emotions has been just over a month since we joined with you and Sora. I- I need to thank you Kairi, for sharing your heart with me, for letting me feel."

"Sure," Kairi said, gently placing a hand on Naminé's shoulder. Naminé took a few more seconds to compose herself before she looked at Kairi again, noticing that Kairi was now smiling sweetly at her.

"Should I call the others in here now then?" Naminé asked. "Because I know you want to see them too."

"Thanks again Naminé," Kairi answered, now knowing that her former nobody liked hearing it. Naminé laughed slightly and shook her head.

"We've done enough thanking each other for now haven't we?" Naminé asked tiredly, though she was smiling while she said it.

Roxas was the first to appear on the platform, looking around quickly and noticing that the three of them were the only ones currently there. "Hey what's up?" he asked, smiling when his eyes fixed on Naminé.

Kairi glanced at Naminé just as her sister glanced at her.

_Still remember what that guy told me?_ Kairi asked.

_You bet I do Kairi!_ Naminé replied, blushing slightly. Both of them giggled slightly while they simultaneously told each other that they didn't need the other sending any inappropriate images into their minds.

Roxas, oblivious, scratched his neck at what could have been so funny about him appearing. Kairi looked up at him when he spoke her name. "You're looking pretty good," he said, still smiling before shrugging, "considering…"

_It worked. Thank you again Naminé._

_Didn't I say we'd done enough? You're welcome though._

"Yeah, the guards are pretty nice too," Kairi said, patting down the hem of her dress. Oh how she wished that right now she was wearing long jeans instead of a dress that went to her mid-thigh. Her legs were itching like hell and (in her opinion) _covered_ with hair!

"How's it going Kairi?" Riku asked, appearing and looking straight at Kairi.

"I'm fine," she replied, turning and nodding her head at Riku.

"She says the guards are nice," Roxas added.

"I didn't ask you Roxas," Riku said, rolling his eyes. Roxas frowned at him.

"Why do you hate me?" he asked, a little bit of anger or frustration coming into his voice. Kairi couldn't tell just which it was.

"I don't hate you Rox," Riku answered, turning and looking at the former nobody now. "I just don't like you."

Kairi watched as Roxas' head lurched back a bit, surprised at Riku calling him simply 'Rox'. She knew why it was that Riku didn't like Roxas. And while she was a tad annoyed that he could still hold a grudge against him for that, she knew that even though they weren't on the best terms with each other they were still friends, and would come in an instant to help each other out.

Roxas it seemed though didn't seem to inherently understand that Riku didn't like him because Riku had been forced to give into the darkness within his heart, give into Xehanort's heartless again, in order to defeat Roxas just to get his best friend back. It had been worth it, but Riku still hadn't liked doing it.

Before they could continue however, Sora appeared and Kairi's eyes instantly turned onto him and her heart gushed. He was so cute when he was a lion cub that it was almost unbearable.

"You picked a really inconvenient time for this Naminé," Sora grumbled. Kairi glanced at Naminé and they both giggled. Even when he was annoyed he was cute.

"Look Nam," Kairi said, coming towards Sora and cuddling him in her arms. "He's adorable like this."

"The kitty of a keyblade master," Naminé laughed. Kairi could feel that Sora was tensing in preparation for a retaliatory comment, and she quickly began to stroke the fur of his back. Forget how hairy her legs were, Sora was covered in it!

But his fur was so soft…

Kairi could tell that petting him was working when she felt his muscles relaxing and his breathing getting much easier and deeper, contented.

Roxas was trying to hold back his laughter, but he still couldn't stop himself from sniggering, "Aw look at that, my brother's purring."

"Shut up Roxas," Sora moaned. Kairi smiled at the contented tone he was using. "What's this meeting about anyway?"

Their usual egg-shaped chairs appeared for the four of them who were currently human to sit in and Kairi sat down, placing Sora in her lap while her hand continued to stroke his fur. "Well Sora-kun," Kairi said, acting on impulse in including the –kun suffix to his name, "we wanted to see how you were faring." She could feel Sora's belly rumble a little more than just from his purring as he giggled to himself. It wasn't a normal chuckle, it was a giggle, like he was amused or delighted that she had called him –kun.

"You called me –kun Iri," he whispered, his voice low enough that Kairi knew she was the only one to have heard him use his special nickname for her. She blushed slightly as his tongue licked her other hand. It was a little rough, but the affectionate display comforted her. Kairi nearly burst into a fit of giggles as Sora's waving tail rubbed against her leg.

Riku broke into their little moment to themselves, saying, "So do you have the keyblade?" Sora's head rose slightly and he looked at his best friend.

"Not yet," he answered. "But I am finally working on it. No more moping for me."

"Good on you bro," Roxas said excitedly. "So what are you doing right now that makes this meeting inconvenient?"

Kairi looked at Sora in curiosity as he stuttered slightly and ceased her petting, placing her hand to her other side. "Right now I'm playing tag with a bunch of gazelles. And since we're doing this in real time, then Swara might have smelled or heard the approach of the one who's it."

Kairi looked at Sora with her face caught somewhere between being stunned and amused. He was playing _tag_? He was in the Pride Lands to regain control of the keyblade and instead he was playing games with gazelles? She briefly wondered who this Swara was before realizing that it must have been one of the gazelles.

She looked down at Sora, noticing in the back of her mind that he wasn't looking back up at her, and her face broke from its stalemate to crack into a grin. He was playing tag! They hadn't played tag in years and he was playing it again!

Kairi's ears picked up Roxas laughing, and almost immediately afterwards her chest was unable to keep out that which her heart wanted to express. Naminé joined in swiftly after she did, and Riku added in a few chuckles of his own once every other person had permitted themselves to laugh.

"You're playing tag when you should be trying to get the keyblade back?" Kairi asked, finally voicing the thought that had been going through her mind. She rolled her eyes and leaned back into her chair. "Least I know I'm not wasting away in jail for nothing."

_If he could only see what you really look like,_ Naminé's voice sifted into her mind.

_They don't need to know right now Nami,_ Kairi returned, looking down at Sora while he told her that he might as well have fun while he waited to be picked up.

"I know," Kairi assured him, allowing her hand to begin petting him once more. "It's just funny."

The five friends were silent for a few seconds, only the sounds of Sora's purring being audible above the regular volume of their breathing.

"I remember tag," Riku said wistfully, looking up into the sky as he thought. He laughed. "I always won."

Sora opened a closed eye and looked at him. "In your dreams Riku."

Riku smiled back smugly at the lion cub. "What's the latest score then,"

"According to my brother's memories," Roxas answered before Sora could even open his mouth again, "eighty-two to seventy-one, in your favour."

"Nobody asked you Roxas," said Riku.

"Well smite me Riku," Roxas bit back.

"I already did that," Riku answered, smug once more. Kairi shook her head slightly.

"Wanna try again?"

"Enough Roxas," Sora said suddenly. "Eleven points means nothing." Kairi then looked at Sora in surprise as he looked up at her. "And eleven pounds doesn't mean anything either Kairi," he added.

Kairi held back a sigh and smiled sadly as she continued to pet him softly. "Well I'm bound to lose a little weight while I'm stuck in my cell in the castle's dungeons."

"How's that working out for you?" Sora asked at last.

Kairi wanted to tell him that it was awful. She wanted to tell him that she had been interrogated by some man who hated her just for existing and being a princess of Radiant Garden and beaten badly. She wanted to tell Sora to hurry back to her so that he could teach that person a lesson.

But instead Kairi settled on maintaining a brave face and keeping Sora's spirits up. He didn't need to be burdened with more of her troubles when he had enough of his own. "The guards are nice, and despite their orders I'm able to get them to do just about anything, well, anything except letting me out of the cell so I can go free. They even smuggled me in a book to read. I swear, I will never look at vampires the same way again." She paused, realizing as her hand kept coming down and running along Sora's spine that it wasn't comforting him; that his body was quivering. "Sora, you're shaking. What's wrong?"

Sora sighed and hung his head. "My darkness has a very sick and twisted mind," he muttered.

Kairi looked up at Naminé in confusion as the girl asked, "Your darkness?" There was nothing in Naminé's face or voice to indicate that she knew any more than Kairi did.

Roxas and Riku however, seemed to know exactly what Sora was talking about. "You don't mean-"

"-your Anti-form?" Riku finished the question Roxas was asking. Kairi noticed Roxas shooting Riku a glare, but she focused her eyes instead on Sora as he glumly reacted in the affirmative. She placed her hands around Sora's front shoulders, the plate for his automail feeling nice, cool, and sleek as she picked him up and turned the lion cub around so that she could look into his blue eyes.

"Sora," she asked uncertainly, "What are they talking about?" Sora held her eyes for a second, and when he looked away she could see that they were full of regret and shame.

"I never wanted to have to tell you this Kai," he said quietly, "but like when Riku gave into the darkness and took the form of Xehanort's heartless, when I turned into a heartless to give you your heart back I gained another form as well."

"You mean you had more than just Valour, Wisdom, Master, and Final?" Naminé asked. Kairi noticed that Sora was getting a little uneasy, only having the option of looking at her and declining, and that it probably wasn't very comfortable to be picked up and held by the shoulders for an extended amount of time. Moving quickly she placed her boyfriend's small feline body onto her lap again and Sora sighed, still not looking at her though speaking to her.

"Kairi, when I was a heartless, and you didn't leave me and brought my heart back to the light and gave me my body and soul back through your own heart, my darkness became locked into that heartless. Over time, that heartless grew and took shape from being just a mere shadow. It evolved into something that has my exact shape, but is made purely out of darkness. An evil creature: my Anti-form. It happened very rarely, but occasionally when I went into a Drive Form, Anti would take over me before it could set in, and I'd turn into something that I'm not, a dark beast who's only interest lay in killing anything around it, friend, foe, neutral, or loved one, I would become consumed by the desire to destroy anything and everything. That is my Anti-form, and it has a mind of its own."

"And it's coming back," Riku observed, looking at Sora with slightly narrowed eyes. Sora nodded.

"I thought that Final took care of Anti," Roxas mused, frowning.

Sora shook his head. "No, Final-form was only able to subdue Anti, never eliminate him. He's my darkness, and I can't get rid of him that easily."

Kairi felt like she was being a little left out of the loop. Although Sora had explained about all his different drive forms when they'd returned home to Destiny Islands, they hadn't been mentioned again in a long while and she was apparently the only one who had forgotten what each of them was. "Final-form?"

"Final-form was the epitome of my light," Sora explained. "I went into Final whenever my clothes had turned silver."

An image of Sora glowing with a blinding flash of light while both Riku and Donald vanished within balls of light that entered Sora before the light dissipated entered Kairi's mind. Sora's black, blue, yellow, and red outfit had turned into a majestic silver and black, he had been floating above the ground, and two keyblade were magically suspended in the air beside his hands.

"Oh right," Kairi said, nodding her head as she remembered.

"When I first drove into Final-form," Sora continued on answering Roxas' question, "Anti felt its power, and so withdrew. But now that I've gained a bit more power from just having my crest, he's starting to get a bit more courageous, no, I shouldn't say courageous, bold or daring would be better, and trying to make me fall towards the darkness in my heart so he can take over again. Maybe this time he wants to permanently take control away from me."

"But why would he do that?" Roxas asked.

"Same reason Xehanort's heartless did with me," Riku answered. "Take over the worlds and have them fall into darkness."

"I'm not so sure," Sora answered dismally. "I think that may be part of his plan, but there's one thing I already know that he'd probably try doing."

"What's that?" Naminé asked curiously. Kairi felt and saw Sora shift uncomfortably in her lap and their eyes met for a second as he glanced up at her. There was a measure of reluctance in his look.

"Does it have something to do with me?" she asked quietly. What could Sora's darkness possibly want with her? Surely it wouldn't try to capture her again. She was a princess of heart, and now she at least knew how to use her light as a weapon. Something that dwelt within Sora wouldn't be that stupid to try would it?

_Well it is Sora,_ Naminé mentioned.

"Turn around, shut your eyes and ears," Sora said sharply, turning and looking at the other three. "This is for Kairi's eyes and ears only."

"Uh Sora, you know that she'll just share everything with me via the mind link we have," Naminé pointed out.

_Not if I block my mind to you I won't!_ Kairi answered.

"And I'll just break into your mind and find out what it is anyway," added Roxas. "So bad luck Riku, you'll be the only one left in the dark. Oh, sorry about that."

Riku curled his lip into a snarl at him.

"Fine," Sora said, rolling his eyes. "But don't blame me if you get sickened. Blame Anti for putting it into my mind yesterday when he was trying to convince me that Kairi and the rest of you didn't love me. It's just a thought, but I'm pretty sure he's going to try doing something like it if he ever gets the chance." Kairi looked up from Sora and towards the middle of the platform as he projected a vivid image for the four others to see.

Kairi's eyes glazed over in sickened horror as she watched it until Naminé cried for Sora to stop. She didn't hear the comments the others made, didn't register anything except for the sight and sound of herself (sans clothing) with three men.

"Three of them," she mumbled weakly, still horrified at what it was Anti had placed in Sora's mind. Her stomach churned, her heart sickened at what it was she had seen. She quickly placed a hand to her mouth as she felt a bit of bile begin to rise from her stomach towards her throat and she looked away from them all, too embarrassed, ashamed, and distraught.

"Ugh! Oh Thessaura that's _sick_! He'd want to do that to _me_, except with like… strange tentacles of darkness or something?!"

"Kairi don't even _think_ about it!" Sora implored her urgently, his face still one of pain. "I don't want any more images of you being- just don't talk about it!"

"Don't worry Sora," Riku growled. "You aren't about to let him do that to Kairi, now are you?" Kairi could barely watch as Sora shook his head at Riku, she was still too stricken to respond much while she shuddered.

"No," she heard Sora say. "I'll be dead before I'd even let him attempt it." His voice was shaking with a powerful note within it that Kairi smiled and began to pet him again, the action soothing her stomach a little.

"Let's not talk about this anymore," she said tenderly, "We've got enough problems on our plate. We should at least be a little happy. After all, Pence turns sixteen today."

Sora looked up at her in surprise. "Sixteen today? Man, he's older than me! Why is everyone older than me?" he added in an undertone, frowning.

Roxas laughed. "Have you forgotten that Selphie isn't? And by the way, Hayner and Olette are younger than us too. Oh, and Hayner asked Olette out two days ago."

"He did?" Sora asked, now looking at Roxas. Kairi nearly giggled at the puzzled look on his face, apparently a lot more was happening while he was away than what he had expected. "Well, extend my congratulations to Pence and the two love doves."

_Love doves?_ She certainly had never heard an expression like that escape from Sora's lips before.

Kairi giggled "Love doves? That'll keep me smiling while I wait for my first day in trial tomorrow."

_It had better,_ Naminé said to Kairi. _I just hope you don't end up meeting with that guy again._

"Tomorrow?" Sora asked. Kairi nodded and gulped. She wasn't worried about the trial tomorrow, the gulp was more towards what Naminé had just reminded her of. But Sora didn't need to know about him yet, so Kairi put on a brave face while her hand continued to stroke his neck and back.

"Go ahead and play tag Sora," Riku said, smirking. "We'll be fine until we come to get you." Sora smiled at him and rose to stand on Kairi's lap, his paws against her chest and his head up at hers. It was almost comical, but while he stood he was only as tall as her hip to her nose, and that was it. What Kairi found more sweet than comical though was that he licked her right over her lips in a kiss.

She couldn't restrain herself from giggling again. The lick had been sweet, and too cute for Kairi to avoid hugging Sora and kissing the top of his black nose before nudging her own nose against it to return the display of affection.

"Come back as soon as you can," Kairi whispered, hugging him a little tighter.

"I'll do my best," Sora assured her. Kairi felt her arms suddenly feeling nothing as Sora vanished from the platform and she looked down, a little sad.

"He's gone," she said to herself.

Roxas held a fist to his mouth. "He's playing tag," he said though a smile. Kairi shook her head and imagined Sora running about as a lion cub amongst tall grass, chasing after her as she looked when she was a lion cub herself.

"I should probably get going too," she said regretfully. "My guards had to bring me to a section of the underbelly of the castle that allowed magic just so that I could communicate with you Naminé, and I've probably already spent too much time talking already."

"Then we'll see you tomorrow Kairi," Riku said standing up from his chair and vanishing as he withdrew.

"Oh Kairi," Roxas spoke up quickly. "Donald, Goofy, Max, and I are bringing Peter Banning here to defend you in court. So you'll probably be meeting with him to plan your defence later today."

Kairi smiled. "Thanks Roxas." The spiky-haired blonde nodded and withdrew. Kairi looked now at Naminé, who bit her bottom lip slightly and turned a mournfully thoughtful eye on Kairi for a second.

"They're going to be so surprised when they see you tomorrow," she said.

Kairi sighed and looked down. "I know," she said, grasping a little of her hair. "I'll see you tomorrow Nami."

"Yeah, see you Kai."

Kairi opened her eyes and found the sudden light from the magical orbs in the white pedestals blindingly bright. She staggered a pace and placed a hand in front of her eyes. She found that her staggering wasn't entirely from just the light; her body was still extremely tired and was still aching.

"You done?" Namis asked quickly. She didn't wait for an answer as she quickly added, "Good, then let's get out of here before someone discovers that we're gone." Both guards let Kairi back through the corridors at a grueling pace for Kairi, in pain and tired as she was. But Kairi didn't mind, she had spent much longer talking than she had anticipated, but she was at the very least glad that Sora was working on getting the keyblade back finally.

They were very lucky when they returned, as there was nobody waiting there for them with weapons and or very stern expressions on their faces. Namis and Jenkins were quick to get Kairi back into her cell, and the young auburn-haired princess went straight to the bed and dropped to sleep within seconds.

-A-D-

In the mid-afternoon Naminé was sitting on a bench with purple seats in the cream coloured lobby of a building. Up on the wall a little ways away from her were large gold block letters spelling the word DUCK. There were several potted green plants spaced around the area, with employees generally dressed in nice suits and or shirts and dresses milling about as they went about their business.

Naminé was still dressed in her steel-blue coloured sleeveless shirt, but instead of the white jean shorts she usually wore with the ensemble she was in a tan coloured skirt that ran down her thighs to end just past her knees. A pair of light blue sandals were on her feet instead of her boots. Riku was sitting next to her on her left, his normal attire switched for a nice black button-up collared shirt and a pair of black dress pants, a slim red tie across his chest. He appeared to be more than a little uncomfortable in the tie and was tugging at it.

Naminé looked at him in amusement while he struggled with his tie. "Stop fussing Riku," she said. "We're just here for an interview, not a fancy dinner or something."

"We have to at least look presentable though," Riku returned, still tugging on his tie as it tightened around his neck even more than the top button of his shirt did.

"You do look presentable," Naminé replied. "And besides, Roxas went through this last week and he said it wasn't that bad."

"Maybe for him it wasn't bad," Riku snorted, "but he doesn't have a thousand girls willing to throw themselves at his feet or fainting just because he smiled."

Naminé put a thoughtful finger to her chin. "True, Roxas isn't as hot as you are Riku, but he also doesn't try to strangle himself with ties."

"Hey, we had to wear ties as part of our school uniform!" Riku reminded her.

"But Roxas and I never did since we were still Sora and Kairi's nobodies at the time, and you were 'too cool' if I remember correctly to wear that uniform for more than one day." Naminé smiled at the caught look on Riku's face. He flushed and looked away, grumbling to himself.

His hand was still on the tie.

"Would you like me to fix it for you?" Naminé offered quietly. Riku sighed and turned towards Naminé, briefly muttering that he would.

"I don't understand how Sora and I are so useless with these stupid things and you and Kairi are so good," he admitted, a little frustrated.

"It's because Kairi had to wear the uniform for the whole year you were both gone," Naminé replied. "She got more practice with it."

"But I'd worn the stupid thing for the year before her!" Riku grumbled.

"A year without practice in tying a tie can make you forget," Naminé muttered. "Or maybe since I can manipulate the memories of those connected with Sora, I might have done something about it."

Riku raised an eyebrow at Naminé and his voice rose just a little bit. "You made me forget how to tie a tie?"

"You and Ansem weren't all that nice to me while I had been working to get Sora's memories back into place," Naminé reminded him, a warning tone in her voice. She tightened it suddenly and Riku gasped as his air supply was restricted for a moment. Naminé quickly loosened it slightly however so that the red tie now sat snugly above his top button.

"There you are," she said. "Fit as a fiddle." She smiled at her handiwork and looked down to her right, where a white sketchbook and a pencil within it binding laid.

"Thanks Naminé," Riku said, still placing a hand to his tie anyway. Naminé only paused for a fraction of a second as her hand slid onto her sketchbook. "For everything," Riku added.

The princess with white blonde hair smiled slightly as a surge of happiness shot through her beating heart. She picked up the sketchbook and placed it on her lap, her other hand already sliding the sharpened pencil out of its bindings.

"Sure," she said, glancing at Riku while flipping open the book. She was still smiling at him when she glanced down at the first picture in the book. It was of Riku and Roxas, in front of the Skyscraper of Memory. Both were dressed in the cloaks of the late Organization XIII, and there was a black blindfold around Riku's eyes as he faced Roxas. The Oblivion alone was within Roxas' right hand, and Riku was holding nothing.

Naminé sighed and closed her eyes. "You really should forgive him you know," she said, turning to open her eyes at Riku. "It wasn't his fault."

"I don't know Naminé," Riku answered, shaking his head. "I just don't think I'm ready to let it go yet."

"I could chain your memory of tha-"

"No Naminé," Riku answered sharply, "No more memory manipulation on me unless I ask for it. I don't want to forget that, I want to remember it."

"It's your choice," Naminé shrugged, flipping over to a free white page and beginning to turn it grey with her pencil.

Riku watched as Naminé gracefully stroked her pencil across the blank page, turning something that had been nothing into what could eventually be a truly great pencil sketch. But after only a few minutes of watching Naminé draw, a woman approached both of them; causing Riku to look up at her.

"Princess Naminé, Master Riku,"

"Yes?" Naminé asked, looking up from her drawing.

"We're ready for you in the studio," the woman said, extending her arm off to the side. "Would you come this way please?" Naminé glanced at Riku and the two nodded simultaneously. They got up and Naminé placed her pencil back within the bindings while her sketchbook became folded up underneath her arm.

"I don't even know why I'm doing this," Riku grumbled quietly as he walked just behind Naminé.

"Because I'm Kairi's sister and you're her best friend," Naminé answered just as quietly. "This might even help her out tomorrow."

Riku nodded and was silent for a second. "Good thing we were able to ditch Tom for this," he said. Naminé laughed slightly and nodded. The kleptomaniac mutant bodyguard did not need to be inside a major media network station.

The woman led them through a pair of grey studio doors and Riku and Naminé were instantly surprised at the amount of electrical and audio/visual equipment in the immediate area. Cables were strewn across the ground like many black rivers, spherecameras and microphones were standing in several places, various technicians checking to make sure that all the equipment was working. Bright lights were shining against a large half-circle grey and red desk with three black chairs and three flat screens against the wall behind it. To the side there was also a slightly raised grey carpeted platform with another screen to its side at around the height of a man of above average height.

There were two men sitting behind the desk already, the one on the left Caucasian with short light brown hair and tawny eyes covered by a pair of circular glasses, and the other one with tanned skin and short black, gelled hair and crisp black eyes. Both of them wore black jackets and black ties, the Caucasian wearing a wine-red shirt underneath his jacket and the other with one that was white. The one on the left looked over at Naminé and Riku as they arrived and nodded his head towards them and smiled. His companion turned around in his chair and nodded as well. He looked back at the white male and they shared a few quick words before nodding together and leaving their chairs to come and greet both Naminé and Riku.

"Princess Naminé," the one with spectacles said, bowing along with his partner. Naminé placed both of her hands to the sides of her skirt and curtseyed. Both men rose from their bows and Naminé unbent her knees while Riku simply smiled and shook his head. Both men shook their hands and introduced themselves as the hosts of the show.

"I'm Neo Silverman," the Caucasian said, smiling still.

"And I'm Perry Boshie," said the other.

"Okay everyone!" their director yelled. "We start in thirty seconds."

"If you'll both come this way please," the woman who had led Naminé and Riku into the studio said, indicating where to go. Both teens followed her while Neo and Perry went back to their chairs.

"You only wore a skirt today so that you could curtsey," Riku accused Naminé as they got to their designated spot. Naminé only smiled and shrugged in response. Riku laughed quietly and shook his head again.

"And we are on in ten," the director continued with the countdown. "Seven! Six! Five!" Riku then watched as he mouthed the rest of the countdown before pointing his finger. The theme music began to play, something that he found rather like that of a sports theme, and a second later Neo began to speak.

"Tonight, on Wartime Battlewatch, we take a deeper look into shocking story of Princess Kairi's mysterious duel with Maleficent."

"Plus we bring you first time ever interviews with Kairi's sister, Princess Naminé herself, and her good friend Keyblade Master Riku," Perry added.

"And what would be complete without the latest news and stories concerning the front, magic, techniques, and the keyblades themselves? Strap yourself in for a look into royal affairs today, Wartime Battlewatch starts now!" Neo concluded.

Riku and Naminé watched from the side where they were as on a nearby screen it revealed the opening theme and video, which true to Riku's assumptions, was rather like a sports opening. There weren't that many images he could associate with. The opening consisted of a bit of footage that looked like it had been shot in the Garden in a fierce battle against some giant heartless, and there were some other shots that appeared to be against Nixion and a group of nobodies in Twilight Town. There was even a brief shot that depicted part of a join move between Axel and Roxas that Riku hadn't seen before. All in all, the opening was eye-catching, attention-grabbing, cool (in Riku's opinion), and quite impressive.

"Welcome to Wartime Battlewatch," Neo said as the opening closed and a bit of background music began to play. "I'm Neo Silverman here along with my good friend Perry Boshie, and tonight we'll be bringing you the Princess, Kairi Talerith's, duel with the sorceress Maleficent here in Radiant Garden's own streets, and some of the conflict the princess' friends went through in finding and rescuing her Sunday night."

"Also on tonight's list," Perry broke in, "we'll be interviewing two very important keyblade wielders, one a master and the other Kairi's twin sister: Keyblade Master Riku of Destiny Islands, and Princess Naminé Talerith."

"But now it's time for us to go to Jake Sharma, and check out the latest news, From The Front."

The cameras turned towards a man in a light green collared shirt with a striped tie on and wearing a pair of black trousers. His skin was tanned and his black hair was quite curly. "Thanks Neo," he said. "Now as most of us know, Princess Kairi and Master Sora both returned to Radiant Garden almost a week ago in comatose states and with strange creatures, Sora's aunt, uncle, and one of his cousins, and the Nobody, Cossex, with them. It was revealed later to us that Master Sora had been missing an arm when they returned. It's been speculated as to how he lost his left arm, but a widely accepted theory is that he and Kairi encountered Maleficent or Nixion, and he lost his arm in the battle. This theory was challenged two days ago when Princess Kairi was taken into custody, being charged with assault causing bodily harm against Master Sora, giving cause to believe that she herself was the cause of Sora's missing limb. This is yet to be proven, and will be determined by a jury in a court of law over the next few days. The princess has also been charged with treason, evidence showing that she actually requested Maleficent to come here so that she could negotiate a secret, and personal, surrender. Again, the validity of this will be determined over the next few days in trial."

"As well," Jake continued, "We have learned from King Mickey Mouse, Sovereign of Disney Castle himself, that Master Sora is not even on world at the moment to refute these claims against the princess as would be expected given their close personal relationship. The King merely informed us that Sora was off world, only revealing that he was conducting intensive training regarding his mythical weapon, the keyblade."

Naminé and Riku looked at each other quickly and suppressed snorts of laughter. As far as they knew he wasn't training right now, he was probably still playing tag! They would never have imagined that right now Sora was actually proposing to a hyena to save his life.

"And that's all that we've got right now Neo," Jake said, looking over at the desk. "So until next week, I'm Jake Sharma."

"Thanks Jake," Perry said, nodding his head before turning to face the camera again. "And now here it is, Our Top Five." There was a short burst of thematic music before Perry continued. "And for those of you who remember from last week's show, this is where we take a look at the dozens of fan-made FMVs and FMAs sent into us from the top selling 'Kingdom Hearts' franchise of video games produced by Scrooge McDuck and Jean Botterill, based off the real adventures of Master Sora in his struggles against Xehanort's heartless, and Organization XIII."

"And for those of you still wondering how these games could have been produced so fast only a mere month after Organization XIII," Neo added emphatically, "Magic makes the world of game producing so much more exciting."

"Remember though," Perry continued, "these are our top five faves of the week. And unfortunately for a lot of you girls out there, all of us here at Wartime Battlewatch are straight! So we reserve the right to discriminate against Yaoi."

Riku breathed a loud sigh of relief when Perry said that. He _did not_ want to see any videos made from whatever cut scenes of the games people might have spliced together to promote a homosexual relationship between himself and Sora (if the time when Sora cried when he realized that 'Ansem' was really him was in there then that most definitely would have been used against him and he didn't want to see it!), or himself and Roxas. He shuddered at the thought of that one.

He had to admit though, the five top videos were quite impressive. There was a particularly good one of Roxas in Twilight Town, then Sora trying to wake up Kairi in Hollow Bastion when she had lost her heart, then with Roxas and him battling, Cloud and Sephiroth duelling in Olympus Coliseum, and ending with the very confusing dream Sora had told him about, with a tsunami and falling into the water before going to when Sora met Donald and Goofy; all to the tune of _Encore/Numb_.

Another one that they saw that made both Riku and Naminé blush horribly was one that tried to push that he and Naminé could be a couple in love. Riku's aqua eyes met Naminé's indigo ones and they reached a firm understanding with that one look. They were friends, comrades, and former coworkers; nothing more.

"Don't go away. After the break we check out the latest spells and tricks to keep you alive on the battlefield before you enlist, and then we meet in studio with Princess Naminé Talerith, and Keyblade Master Riku."

"Later on, it's the Main Event: Princess Kairi's duel with and rescue from Number One baddie, Maleficent." The theme music began to play and Riku watched as the two hosts of the show began to talk quietly to themselves. Perry got out of his seat and left somewhere quickly before returning. Riku and Naminé busied themselves by chatting quietly about the show and what they thought of it so far. Both their opinions of it were rather good, as the hosts were full of energy and the music was invigorating.

It was a taped show for that night however, so the break for commercials was very short in comparison to the length of the commercial break that there actually would be. Within a minute and a half Neo and Perry were back 'on the air'.

"Welcome back to Wartime Battlewatch," Neo began. "I'm Neo Silverman."

"And I'm Perry Boshie," Perry added. "Why don't we take a look at what Ultimo has for us in The Magician's Study?" The screen switched over to another man with a tan and black hair, wearing a white and light blue striped shirt and pair of grey pants. The music also shifted to address the change towards his segment of the show, but Riku and Naminé were unable to pay attention to it as the woman who brought them in gave them their cue to go up to the desk. Perry and Neo greeted them again quietly, and Perry got out of his chair so that Riku could sit down, the host going over to stand where Jake had previously stood.

"So remember," Ultimo said, "keep your mages safe, and they'll keep you going longer on the fields of battle. Back to you Neo."

"Sound advice Ultimo," Neo said, smiling at the cameras. "And now we are very honoured and privileged to bring you Princess Naminé Talerith, and Keyblade Master Riku. Good evening to the both of you and welcome to Wartime Battlewatch," he added, turning in his chair to look at them now as they sat at the desk with him.

"Than- thank you for having us," Naminé stuttered. Riku could tell just from her mannerisms and the way she was behaving (holding her hands within her lap for example even though he couldn't actually _see_ that she was doing it as she sat in front of him) that Naminé was more than a little intimidated by the cameras and lights.

"Evening Neo," he replied, shrugging it off. He smiled slightly, and knew that across both Twilight Town and Radiant Garden there were probably at least a hundred teenage women who had just fainted, or _would have_ fainted had this been live. The thought almost made him laugh.

"I would just like to say," Neo began, "that I am a huge fan of both of you. The way you both worked together to bring back Sora and his memories and everyone's memory of him was astounding. And Master Riku, you're a really great warrior, and not half-bad looking either."

Riku's eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hair. "You're not going to pass out on me like a bunch of girls probably did when I just smiled are you?"

Neo chuckled slightly. "No, no I'm straight."

"Good," Riku said, ruffling himself in his chair slightly. "Otherwise I might have had to beat you."

"Homophobic Riku?" Neo asked. The lesser keyblade master shook his head.

"Nope," he replied. "I'm just freaked out by the idiots that think that Sora and I are gay and would make a cute couple." He stuck his finger into his mouth and made fake gagging noises. "As if! I already have a girlfriend thank you very much."

"Who is she then?" Neo asked, leaning in.

"Yuffie Kisaragi," Riku replied. He paused for a half a second before cracking a smile and laughing. "Sorry, I meant to say, The Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi."

"Ah, a member of the former Restoration Committee," Neo said. "A good pick Master Riku."

"Please, just 'Riku'; and it was my heart that chose her, not me," Riku answered.

"Okay Riku," Neo said. "So was it then difficult to watch that video pairing you up with Princess Naminé?"

Naminé nearly jumped out of her skin when Neo said her name, Riku noticing her eyes growing wide in the screen that was showing them what they looked like on camera. He quickly placed a hand to her shoulder and spoke her name softly.

"Sorry," Naminé said quietly, calming down. "I guess I'm a little nervous."

"It's okay your highness," Neo said. "The cameras won't bite."

"They don't add ten pounds like they say Naminé," Riku said in a comforting tone. He pointed slightly towards the screen, "look, you look fine." Naminé glanced towards the screen and she paused.

"I look good," she said, a smile starting to form on her lips.

"Those aren't the clothes you'd normally battle in are they Riku?" Neo asked. Riku laughed slightly.

"No; there's no way I'd go out into a life or death battle against beings of darkness dressed in business casual."

"You're wearing a tie."

"Thanks to Naminé I'm wearing a tie. Otherwise I'd be dead out in the lobby having strangled myself trying to put it on."

"That would sure make headlines," Naminé said, turning in her chair so she could look at both Riku and Neo. "Keyblade Master Riku died earlier today in apparent unintentional suicide, he tied his tie too tightly and suffocated."

"And what about you Princess Naminé?" Neo asked. "What do you normally wear when you're out battling heartless?" Naminé turned slightly to look at him.

"Just 'Naminé' for now please, and I'm actually mostly dressed in what I fight in. I just wear a pair of boots instead of these sandals and I don't normally wear a skirt like my sister does."

"What do you wear instead of the skirt?" Neo asked, looking down slightly. "Bec- because honestly you look good in the skirt you're wearing now."

Riku answered with a smug look before Naminé could. "She wears a tight pair of white jean shorts," he said. His smirk defied Naminé's glowing red face as she angrily turned towards him. She hadn't ever intended to answer Neo's question. "They show off her great legs and nice butt too," Riku added.

"Riku!" Naminé groaned, punching his arm. "You aren't supposed to say things like that!" Neo just covered his laughter and was making gestures towards Riku and Naminé at the camera.

"You're sixteen Naminé," Riku said with a slight laugh. "You're allowed to show yourself off for Roxas."

"You don't need to make a big show of it when we're being filmed," Naminé pouted in a grumble, "smeghead."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Riku retorted. "You're the one fussing about this princess! And where the hell did 'smeghead' come from?"

"I heard Tom use it once," Naminé answered.

"Since when has Tom ever called anyone 'smeghead'?"

"Does it matter?" Naminé asked heatedly. "You and Sora used to insult each other with new words all the time!"

"Yeah, but that was before we got these so that we could beat each other up instead," answered Riku, calling Way to the Dawn into his right hand.

"Oh, so you want to fight me on TV?" Naminé asked, drawing Island's Fire and her shield in retribution. "Is that it keyboy?"

"Now that's a better insult than smeghead."

"Says the guy who looks like a chic."

"That does it!"

"WAIT!" Neo cried, holding his hands up to stop the fighting before it began. It could be seen from his face though that he was rather enjoying this and would really like to see them continue. "Before you tear apart our studio, I'd like to make a presentation to you Riku."

The aforementioned seventeen-year-old keyblade master stopped in mid-swing at Naminé's head and looked at Neo with a glare that said as clearly as the Sun was bright that he'd better have a good reason for halting his and Naminé's sudden bout of sparring.

Neo turned around and then turned back once more to reveal something in his hands. "I would like to present you with this small gift Riku, on behalf of all of us here at Wartime Battlewatch." Riku and Naminé both paused and stared at the item.

It was a Riku bobble-head doll standing on a black base.

Way to the Dawn instantly vanished as Riku laughed and took his seat again, his now free right hand snatching up mini-Riku and looking at it. "Wow. This is- this is just great. Thank you, thank you very much."

"You like it?" Neo asked.

"I love it," Riku answered. "This, this is how you know that you're immortal. You have your own bobble-head doll. Ha! I've beaten Sora in getting one, how cool is that?"

"Yes that's right," Neo said, turning towards the cameras again and holding up another mini-Riku. "The Keyblade Master Riku bobble-head doll. It bobbles, it wobbles, and it even speaks!" He pressed a small black button on the stand and Riku's voice issued from it.

"You mess up our worlds!"

"Yes the Riku bobble-head doll, order yours today." Neo smiled, and Riku felt for sure that if they could have, a star would have suddenly appeared on his white teeth like on infomercials.

"Wow," Riku continued, still struck that he had his own bobble-head doll. "This is phenomenal. I- I don't know how to thank you."

"Hey maybe you could make me an honourary keyblade wielder," Neo joked.

"You want to be?" Riku asked, half in a laugh.

Neo looked back at him in surprise. "Ser-seriously?"

Riku fumbled for the words for a second before saying, "You're in. You're in the club even though you don't have a keyblade."

"Sweet!" Neo said, pumping his arm after shaking Riku's hand in gratitude.

"Can I be an honourary keyblade wielder?" Perry asked from where he was standing. Riku looked over at him.

"Uh, no."

"But I let you sit in my chair," Perry mumbled.

Riku shook his head slightly. "Still, no."

Naminé's golden keyblade was suddenly thrust inches away from his neck and Riku stared at the determined, perhaps even overconfident, look she was giving him. "You still want to scrap with the best?" Riku asked, rising from his seat and cracking his knuckles.

"I'd rather spar against you any day to watching my sister getting beaten almost to death," Naminé said, her voice getting quieter as she spoke.

Neo placed a couple of fingers to his lips in contemplation for a second. "Hold that thought," he said as Way to the Dawn appeared in Riku's grasp for a second time. "How about, instead of showing the battle between Princess Kairi and Maleficent, we switch the main event with a dual between you two?" He shrugged and placed his arms out to the side. "Any objections anybody?"

"I'd watch them battle," Perry said from his place.

"Having two keyblade wielders dual each other on the show would spark a lot more interest," Jake Sharma said, running up to the desk.

"And it would also give some practical tips for blocks, strikes, spells, and parries against heartless and nobodies for the troops when they finally get through their training," Ultimo added, running in next to Neo.

"Plus it would give us a chance to study the fighting styles of both Riku and Naminé," another man said as he came in with a colleague.

"Quite true," his colleague added, nodding his head.

"Think of the ratings..." Neo mumbled to himself.

Naminé and Riku both began tapping their keyblades against Naminé's shield with sharp ringing sounds for a few seconds as they waited for the verdict.

"Neo, you're doing it!"

Neo looked up to where the voice (with a heavy Scottish accent) had come from and held up his hand, one thumb outstretched and up. "Sure thing Mr. McD! Operation Riku vs. Naminé is a go."

-A-D-

About twenty minutes later Naminé and Riku had both rushed to their places of accommodation (Riku at Yuffie's apartment and Naminé to her room in the castle) and had returned to the studio, dressed in their battle attire. Naminé pouted as Riku returned and glanced at her white short shorts held up by the soft pink belt with its golden buckle. She quickly glanced down and behind her, he had been completely right when commenting on her body. She grimaced when she realized that Roxas would either find the situation amusing, or cause him to become jealous. Or it would simply cause him to stutter incoherently in front of her for a few seconds while he would agree entirely with the other guys in the group that she did in fact look great.

Naminé's expression returned to that of a smile however when she remembered that Roxas did once say that she looked ravishing. So maybe he did notice the way she looked and she did dress this way to please him. Naminé couldn't tell, but it felt good to know that Roxas liked looking at her.

"Are you both ready?" Neo asked, arriving in the main foyer of the building himself with two of their floating spherecams hovering by his shoulders. The two men that Naminé had barely seen rushing in to give their advice on the decision were also present, as well as the other members of the cast of the show.

"Yes," Naminé and Riku said simultaneously. They then turned and glared at each other.

"Then let's get going," Neo said, motioning towards the door. Naminé looked blankly at his for a moment.

"Alright," Riku said, "where to?"

"Just beyond the northern wall," Perry said. "The mass of space there is a great place compared to here. You won't be tearing apart our studio."

"Ah," Naminé said, nodding her head and beginning to move to follow the men and floating cameras. "Wait, I was already at the castle, why didn't you just tell me to go there before instead of coming back here?"

"Because now we get to talk smack the whole way there," Riku said, looking back at Naminé, "_little_ princess."

Naminé glared at him at the emphasis he placed on the word 'little' and noted how much taller he was than her. "At least I'm not compensating for something," Naminé replied.

Riku only shrugged it off. "At least I have something I could possibly be compensating for."

"And what do you call these?" Naminé asked pointedly, pointing at her chest.

"Flat," Riku answered.

"You mean like your face after I'm finished with you?" asked Naminé, her face turning a previously undiscovered shade of red at the insult.

Their talk continued in such manner until they reached the northern walls of the city, set before the cliffs. It was the first time that Naminé and Riku had actually walked by these walls, and like Kairi before them when she and Sikora had come here, it made both of them feel very small.

A surprise was in store for them when they arrived at the gates to find them already open and the front walls and gatehouse manned by a very thin guard, which was waiting for them at the base of the opened gates.

"How ya doing fellas?" King Mickey asked, waving at Naminé.

"We heard that you were going to duel," Asterix added smugly, looking over both Naminé and Riku. There was an amused twinkle in his black eyes as he glanced at Riku. He'd seen the wielder fight before, and he was impressed by the boy's skills; but the experienced veteran had not seen either princess or Sora actually fight before, so to see Naminé duelling Riku would be a real treat.

"It might be good for us to see it too," Jasmine added, being present along with all the other princesses and their escorts (Belle and Alain still appeared a little frustrated at Gaston being present, but Genie was having a whale of a time). "You called us here for a reason Naminé, even if you aren't really sure of it yourself."

"Alice I don't want you to watch this," the woman who had come along with her said in a somewhat stern tone.

"Oh Penelope," Alice said looking up at the much taller woman. "Just because you are my older sister doesn't mean that you can tell me what I can and cannot do."

"Actually Alice," Penelope answered, looking down at her. "That is precisely what it means."

"But Alice is a Princess of Heart," Naminé said smugly as she walked past the assorted and assembled group with Riku, "she outranks you."

"We are both princesses-" Penelope began.

Aurora cut her off, coming to Alice's aid, "She, however, is the one with no darkness in her heart."

Alice stuck her tongue out of her mouth at her sister in victory. Penelope's look showed how insulted she was.

"How childish," she said in an annoyed tone, turning her eyes away from her sister. "We should be continuing your studies Alice, not sitting around here."

"But it is continuing my studies," Alice piped up. "If I don't watch a fellow princess of heart fight, how might I learn to use my light as a weapon if the heartless threaten our world?" The look on Penelope's face showed that Alice had her on that one.

Whereas Riku and Naminé had continued past the gate, Neo and the other cast members of Wartime Battlewatch as well as one of their cameras had stayed with the others at the massive gatehouse. "Hello sir," Neo said, holding up a microphone to himself and a large burly man, "who do you believe is going to win this duel?"

"No contest," Gaston replied. "I don't even know why it would be worth fighting that girl. But if it suits the boy for a quick win, bah! My money's still on him."

"You're darn right Gaston!" LeFou added.

"And you sir," Perry asked coming up to a large suit of armour. "Who will champion this contest of magic and might?"

"Uh well, I really don't know," Alphonse Elric said unsteadily. "Brother, what do you think?" He looked down at Ed, who stood next to him.

"I think Naminé is going to take it," he said. "But don't say magic. It doesn't exist." He suddenly buckled slightly and held his head in pain as a spanner struck him upon the crown.

"Does Roxas need to create another little dragon made of fire for you to realize that it _does_ exist?" Winry asked agitatedly. "I mean, just look around you Ed! These walls couldn't have possibly been made without the help of magic!"

"Alchemy could do it; and why the hell did you hit me?"

"Sometimes you need to smack shrimp around before they get some sense knocked into them."

"Who are you calling so short you want to squish like an ant?" Ed retorted angrily, trying to get at Winry with his fists. Al was holding him back.

"Oh brother," he sighed, hanging his head.

Naminé and Riku only glanced back at the commotion going on at the gates as they continued out a ways with their following spherecam. "Do you think that they're arguing about who's going to win?" Naminé asked.

"I think they're more concerned about how you're displaying yourself," Riku joked. Naminé groaned, noticing that the camera following them wasn't recording yet.

"What is it with you and how I look today?" she asked in frustration. Riku stopped and stared blankly at the blue cliffs for a few seconds. Naminé turned around and looked at him curiously.

"I really don't know," Riku answered, blinking and shaking his head. "Maybe it's because I suddenly realized that you and Kairi are princesses and you both keep dressing like we're still on the Islands and it's plus 32°C outside in the hot sun."

Naminé frowned slightly and almost placed a hand on her hips when she felt the wind and realized that it was getting a little too cold for her to be dressed like she was. "Maybe we do need to change Riku," she sighed. "But like you said earlier, I'm sixteen and allowed to show myself off."

"You'd still never be allowed in school dressed like that," Riku pointed out. Naminé blinked.

"Why?" she asked, looking down. "The skirt your school had the girls wear was so sexist! They barely went past our butts; you'd almost be able to see up them!" Riku's face turned pink and Naminé wondered if that had been the whole point when whoever it was that had implemented the uniform designed them.

"That's not the point," Riku said quickly, waving his hands and trying to change the subject.

"That is the point," Naminé said, a slight amount of amusement coming into her voice. "I wouldn't be allowed to wear this in school because there's no chance that a peeping tom would be able to look up my skirt and see my panties. Well, am I right?"

Riku's face was now more towards the red of a rose. "Not true Naminé!"

"But it is true!" Naminé answered with a triumphant rebuttal. "The look on your face is clear enough to know that whoever put that stupid uniform in thought that all girls that went to your high school would adore the attention all of the guys would give them. I can tell you that they were wrong though. Kairi didn't like that uniform much at all, and she found herself quite embarrassed and uncomfortable wearing it while she was the only one who could at least vaguely remember Sora. She had had enough of getting pinched and the advances of over half of the single guys in the school by the time it ended and Axel arrived."

"Naminé," Riku groaned.

"Hey you brought this on yourself," Naminé warned. "You want to make fun of the fact that I wear short shorts, then you're going to have to pay the price of me ripping on you. And where do you get off dressing like that? It's almost like you think that you're still on the Islands too!" Riku's face lost some of its potency and he quickly looked himself over.

"What's wrong with me?" he asked. "Long jeans, black belt, sneakers…"

"A cream and yellow coloured vest and black zippered muscle shirt slightly undone at the waist," Naminé said, shaking her head. "If I'm not allowed to wear shorts and a sleeveless and shoulderless top even if it does go around my neck, you can't wear muscle shirts."

"And why should I care what you think about how I dress?" Riku asked. "Yuffie's the only one who should care."

"Back at you Riku," Naminé answered with a smirk. Riku stopped for a moment.

"You caught me in that one you witch," he said, shaking his head and smiling. "Sorry Nam."

"It's fine Riku," Naminé said in a slight sigh. "And you are right, in a way. Radiant Garden isn't Destiny Islands, and I am getting a little cold already. However, I know just the way to get heated up." She let one eyebrow rise while her smirk returned.

Riku chuckled. "I think I know what you're talking about." Way to the Dawn appeared in his right hand and Naminé summoned her shield and keyblade to her hands in retaliation.

Riku acted first, rushing at Naminé with the power of dawn pooled around his feet in their sun-skates. When he used to spar with Sora it had always been a contest of physical strength vs. speed. He was the stronger one, but Sora was the faster of the two. Now thanks to his powers that particular flaw in his strategy was removed, making him both faster and stronger.

However Naminé had the better counter to his sudden speed, since his movements forced him to react as like on the skates it seemed he was on. Way to the Dawn came down against the princess in his initial strike, but Naminé blocked it with the round silver buckler in her left arm and jabbed Island's Fire towards Riku's body. He was forced to swerve away from her, jerking his body and overshooting her at his pace. Naminé turned straight around as Riku grounded himself from his skates, his feet skidding a few feet on the blue rock in front of the lingering golden trails left behind from his actions.

She smiled to herself, having foiled his attempt at a quick win. She mentally thanked Roxas once more for the birthday present of the shield he had taken from the Charr heartless he had defeated one-on-one. Crouching slightly backwards, Naminé pointed the tip of Island's Fire at Riku's feet.

"Firagun!" she yelled, slicing it in first an upward arc and then twisting it to come back down in a downwards slash to the left. The flicker of her wrist as she moved her blade was so quick that it appeared like she was whipping her keyblade at him, despite the distance.

That was exactly the point of the movement, for from around the part of the guard closest to the blade a red whip of coiling, solid fire formed and flickered with a sharp crack towards Riku. He rolled just out of its way, having seen it out of the corner of his eye. It came so close before recoiling to slink around the sandy gold of Island's Fire that it nearly singed some of Riku's hair.

Naminé's eyes narrowed as Riku stood from his roll. She cracked her whip at him again, its end twisting and coiling towards his right leg. Before the whip could reach, Riku's Guardian rose from out of his back and let the fire whip wrap around his burly arm instead. With a leer at a slightly surprised Naminé and a sharp yank the flaming whip dissolved into nothing. Grinning manically, the Guardian reared out in front of Riku's body and opened its mouth wide. An unearthly roar came from it, a roar of intimidation and challenge.

Naminé took an apprehensive step back. The Guardian's colouring might have changed only slightly, but it was still terrifying. She shook her head and glanced down at her keyblade that shone golden in the Sun.

"No," she growled to herself, staring at her keyblade as its solidity in itself stiffened her as well. "No, I won't back down." She snapped her head up towards Riku, a rage in her blue eyes and light coming from the blue gem in the silver circlet she wore atop her forehead.

_I will not back down_, she repeated to herself, preparing and subsequently launching her body forward in a sprint towards Riku. Her feet flew towards Riku, who readied himself for the hundred or so pounds of white-blonde hair that was streaking towards him.

Riku sidestepped the slash she made at him with her keyblade, and then her shield was blocked by his own sword when she tried to strike at him with it. She tried another attack against Riku, but found her blade being turned aside by Way to the Dawn as it slapped upwards close to the guard. Naminé's eyes widened as she saw Riku's keyblade slip towards her body, and she was just barely able to ram her shield into the keyblade's path before it could touch her. But even with her shield now in place Riku's assault continued, striking at her defence with his keyblade in an ever-changing motion, forcing Naminé to move her shield or keyblade or body constantly in an attempt to keep up with him. He was acting too quickly and with too much force for the blonde to effectively attempt a counterattack.

She jumped back slightly from a swing that would have struck her lower chest as her shield had been too far off to the side, but Naminé felt her footing slip as her feet began to fumble amongst each other. Riku's Guardian stole she shield she held from her grasp as her attention wavered and tossed it off to the side, the shield bouncing and rolling with sharp clangs against the rock before coming to rest near the towering grey stone walls. Both of Naminé's hands came to the grip of her keyblade and she held it pointed downwards at an angle to stop Riku's falling Way to the Dawn.

"Held me off there didn't you?" Riku asked smugly, lifting his keyblade off of hers with a slow jerk. His breathing was only slightly faster than normal, while Naminé's own was a bit closer to a pant.

"I'll admit it was close," returned Naminé. "But I'm not going to back down Riku." Naminé could see that he wasn't trying to hold back non-existent laughter. They both knew from that little bout that he was a better melee combatant than she was, but they had yet to see who would still triumph this day.

"Then show me what you're made of Princess Naminé," Riku said, taking a step back and readying himself in his usual fighting stance. "Earn that keyblade you wield."

"Hn," replied Naminé, an instant before she rushed at Riku again. Her keyblade came up towards Riku's chin, and when he sidestepped it again she twisted and brought it back down towards his shoulder, glanced off target by the Guardian's arms. But Naminé did not relent and brought her blade forward in a jab towards Riku's chest. He saw it coming and slapped her blade away while taking a step back to give himself some room to attack in.

His defensive slash quickly turned itself into an attack at Naminé, who had to duck underneath the blow and then jump back while still crouched down when Riku further stabbed towards her legs. She brought her keyblade up with one hand to defend against another attack from above while lightning gathered in her left fist. She released the thunder spell at Riku, who flipped backwards to evade, and stood back up with her keyblade pointed at Riku.

"Blizzagun," she said. Tiny shards of ice began forming all around her and flinging themselves at Riku at high speed. She saw his eyes widen slightly at the thousand sharp freezing fragments of water and rolled and leapt to the side to avoid them, his keyblade vanishing from his grasp. The ice tinkled and broke onto the ground as the missiles continued to miss or get batted away by Riku's Guardian.

"First Light's Fire!" he yelled, aiming his hands in Naminé's direction as he emerged from his roll. Reddish gold fire burst from his palms and flared towards the girl in a shell-like shape. The ice shards that were continuing to form and shoot towards Riku were vaporized in the advancing fireball. Naminé looked off to her left and saw her shield still lying on the rocky ground near the wall. The princess sprinted off to avoid the blast, which struck into the ground where her feet had been and created a crater close to five feet deep with a flat base into the rock. Riku kept at it, firing off blast after blast of fire at Naminé, missing only by a metre or so as she deked and dodged out of the way of each on her way to get her shield again.

"Firaja!" she cried, tossing her keyblade in Riku's direction as she continued to run over the landscape to get at her shield. She needed that shield! Or at least, she felt she needed it. Riku's sun-skates appeared around his feet once more and he skated out of the way of the twirling golden blade and into the air. Naminé's ears felt the pain of the loudness of the explosion when her keyblade stuck into the rock where Riku had been and summoned it back into her hands, only glancing back to see that a very large crater had been blown into the ground, much larger than the ones Riku's fires of dawn had created.

"Ray of Dawn!"

Naminé turned her head as she still continued towards her shield; she had had no idea that the Guardian had the strength to throw it so far. Out of the sky golden rays were streaking towards her, bending and turning as they homed in on her. The girl slowed and held her keyblade in both hands, bringing it up to intercept a ray. The impact did turn the ray away so that it blasted into the ground seven feet to her left, but it also tossed her keyblade out of her grasp. Desperately, Naminé planted her booted feet into the ground and placed her left hand in front of her, creating a quick reflaja shield over her as a second ray came in. The ray exploded on contact and Naminé felt pain in her ringing ears as the ground cracked underneath her feet, but even so her spell stayed. The third ray missed its mark and struck the ground near her shield, another crater being blown into existence before her eyes as the flying fragments of rock peppered into her reflaja shield.

Naminé dropped it and quickly continued on her run towards her physical shield. A plan had slowly been building within her mind for why exactly she needed it. She'd place a reflaja shield around it as soon as it was in her grasp again, and with it she'd have adequate defence against Riku's powerful attacks.

She didn't count of the fact that Riku would continue to harass her from the skies.

An orange crescent struck the ground just in front of her, splitting the ground into a wide trench that extended far beyond the ends of the crescent that had hit the blue rock. Naminé forced her eyes up and away from the dust that bit into them, barely passing over the massive grey walls in front of her, and leapt over the trench. She barely kept hold of her balance as she reached the other end, but turned while she backpedalled and aimed lightning bolts from her hands towards Riku, who she could identify in the sky by the streaking trails of gold that followed him. Stormy, crackling bolts of lightning sizzled through the sky towards Riku, who darted about to dodge them like a gnat that was persistently staying alive.

Naminé turned around again; her shield was just a few more feet in feet in front of her. Two more rays struck the ground near her, creating more craters and peppering her with a little more rocky shrapnel. But Naminé didn't notice or care, she could make it!

"Breaking Aura!" Riku's voice shouted behind her. Naminé made the bad mistake of continuing forward, too surprised that the voice was very loud and coming from almost directly behind her. Damn, Riku was quick on those skates!

A circular blast of red, gold, and black flames (similar to what his Dark Aura had looked like) struck Naminé in the back. Her feet left the ground and a shout of pain echoed from her throat as the girl was blown past her steely-blue shield and rolled on the ground, stopping only fifteen metres from the base of the first tower on the right of the gatehouse. Her back was against the ground and the Sun was being blocked by a cloud, so her eyes weren't hurt by its rays even though closed.

A sharp ringing sound struck next to her and Naminé opened her eyes slightly and glanced to her left to see the tip of Island's Fire embedded within the blue stone a foot from her head. Naminé closed her eyes again and let her head turn towards the sky once more.

"Ow," she moaned, feeling the dull throbbing pain from both the blast and the scrapes on her legs and arms from rolling on the rock. Her eyes opened when she heard Riku chuckling and saw him standing in front of her. The Guardian was back within him, and his keyblade was nowhere in sight. The keyblade master of dawn was leaning over her slightly with a helping hand outstretched.

"Want a hand?" he asked, smiling at her. Naminé smiled back and took him up on that offer and placed her bare hand into one of his black fingerless gloved ones.

"Yeah," she said as he helped her back to her feet. "Good match Riku, you got me." He winced as he pulled her up and Naminé noticed that there was a rip in his jeans around the knee of one leg and a red burn mark near his shoulder.

"You weren't so bad yourself," he said as she grabbed her keyblade from the ground and let it vanish, "just outclassed."

"I'll get you next time though," Naminé assured him. Riku laughed and clapped a hand to her shoulder, standing a head taller than her and pushing her forward a little.

"I'll be looking forward to it," he said, still smiling when she stuck her tongue out at him like Kairi would have before going to recover her shield amid the cheers from the watchers on the walls.

There would definitely be an interesting battle to watch that evening.

-A-D-

Kairi awoke again in the evening, ravenously hungry and thirsty but otherwise feeling better than she had when she had woken up that morning. Her eyelids fluttered open and she yawned loudly, and despite her stomach, nuzzled further into the bed to try and get a few more minutes like any self-respecting teenager would.

"You have a visitor milady Kairi," the voice of Crysta Jenkins drifted towards her from outside her cell's bars. Kairi opened her eyes and groaned.

"What time is it?" she asked groggily.

"Six-thirty," the voice of a man answered. Kairi paused and frowned in confusion for a moment. She knew that voice. She _knew_ that she knew that voice, she just couldn't place its owner.

"Who's-?" she asked, turning around in her bed to look towards the bars of the cell. Kairi blinked several times and pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Peter Pan? No, not Peter Pan, Peter Banning was standing outside her cell!

"My God Kairi what happened to you?" Peter asked, looking in concern at the black eye she had and the bruise on her cheek. "You look like Marie Antoinette's blueberry pie."

Kairi stared at him, her mouth still open as a yawn escaped again. "What?" Peter shrugged.

"Guess you don't know about that," Peter said. "Come on, we need you to catch me up Kairi."

"On what?" Kairi asked groggily, sitting up in her bed with her legs out to the side.

"Didn't anyone tell you?" Peter asked. "I'm your lawyer for tomorrow." Kairi's eyes snapped open as the small tidbit of information Roxas gave her came rushing back to her mind, as well as remembering that the trial's first day was tomorrow.

"Right," she said in a sigh. "Can we do that later? I'm starving."

"No need to worry about that Kai," Peter said, producing a large cardboard box from his back. "I brought dinner for us." He looked at Jenkins and Namis. "Could I take the princess out into the Sun for some fresh air while I talk to her? She must be getting tired of this dreary old place. I mean, has the same atmosphere of a mausoleum in here. Creepy..." he shuddered slightly and Kairi couldn't help but smile as she pressed herself against the bars.

"Please?" she asked, making her face and eyes contort into the same irresistible look that she gave Sora. She was then amazed when Jenkins and Namis appeared to not even be fazed by the look she was giving them. Perhaps it only worked on members of the opposite sex, or maybe Sora was the only one who wasn't immune…

Nonetheless, Namis and Jenkins looked at each other and whispered in voices that Kairi could still hear.

"Well, he _is_ her lawyer."

"But our orders say,"

"The prosecution took her away yesterday,"

Kairi stopped listening in at that moment, hearing the phrase 'the prosecution'. She was horrified at those words.

_No! No, no it can't be! That man can't be the one against me! Oh Thessaura, what am I going to do if he is?__ How am I going to do anything at all? I can't say that he tortured me, it'd be my word against his and right now my word doesn't look to be very good and I'd probably just get into more trouble._

"Okay," Jenkins said as Marie opened the cell. Apparently they had finished discussing it while Kairi debated mentally about whether the man who tortured her would be trying to convince the jury that she was guilty.

"Come on Kairi," Peter said, stepping forward and extending his hand. "Where would you be comfortable discussing this?"

"You can take her anywhere so long as you stay within the castle's grounds," Namis said. "But when you're done, you have to come back here milady Kairi."

Kairi nodded her head once to show that she understood. "We could go to the gardens," she suggested, looking up at Peter. A faint smile was already on her face as her mind conjured up the image of all of those blooming flowers.

"The gardens it is then," Peter said, smiling at her. He gestured for her to lead the way and Kairi gracefully accepted, pausing only slightly to look at the guards. Namis nodded at the open doorway at the end of the row of cells.

"It'll take you to the castle's entrance chamber," she explained.

"Don't keep her up too late counsellor," Jenkins said, smiling herself. Peter laughed and half followed, half led Kairi back out to the entrance hall of the castle. From there on, Kairi led Peter through its corridors before leaving through the small door in its western side into the gardens of the castle.

The Sun was still above the horizon but its light was beginning to turn golden as it slowly dipped further down. The sight of the flowers and trees in such light astounded Kairi, who had gone for the past couple of days with barely anything that was aesthetically appealing to her eyes except in her memory.

"Wow," Peter said, stopping suddenly as he gazed upon the castle's gardens for the first time. He'd never seen such a beautiful place in all his life. Not even the wonders of Neverland could compare at this moment. "Now I can see why this world is called 'Radiant Garden'."

Kairi couldn't help but smile slightly and amble down a stone path that wound behind a few spruce trees. The leaves on the poplars, which a few days ago had still been green, were now yellow and half of them had fallen. But Kairi didn't notice or mind. Everything must run its course before returning to their beautiful splendour in the spring.

_Naminé_, she said. _I'm in the gardens with Peter. Could you and Menelmon come down?_

_Kairi!_ Naminé exclaimed, the tone she was using suggesting that she was quite surprised that she was able to contact Kairi. _Su-sure! We'll be right down._

Kairi sat down on a bench next to a couple of stone flowerpots that held sweet marigolds within them. She leant towards the flowers and smelled them for a second, just savouring in the scent that was very much real.

Peter Banning sat down next to her and produced the cardboard box again. "Chinese," he explained, giving her a set of chopsticks along with his own. Kairi gratefully accepted them and as soon as Peter had placed a smaller box full of stir fried beef and broccoli in front of her Kairi ravenously attacked it with her chopsticks, the beef flying into her open mouth. She hadn't had a bit to eat since the single doughnut she'd had the day before, having lost consciousness before she could muster the courage to eat something more.

"I haven't seen someone eat like that since Jack had his first ball park hot dog," Peter said, looking at Kairi with both a bit of astonishment and concern.

"I'm starving," Kairi answered in a quick breath when her mouth was momentarily devoid of beef and broccoli.

"Well I can see that," Peter said before placing the bit of rice between his chopsticks in his mouth. He chewed on it for a little bit and swallowed. "So," he continued thickly, "what happened?"

"Huh?" Kairi asked, oblivious to his question as her tongue was still savouring the rich flavours swirling in her mouth.

"What happened on Destiny Islands Kairi?" Peter elaborated. Kairi gulped and looked down.

"I don't really want to talk about what happened," she said quietly.

"But you have to Kairi," Peter insisted. "I can't defend you if I don't know your side of the story."

"I said I didn't want to talk about it," Kairi continued. "Not that I wasn't going to talk about it." She looked up only slightly when another familiar voice came to her ears.

"Menelmon," she said, her eyes flickering up into the sky to search for her digimon partner. The ice-blue bird flew over the canopy of two spruce trees that concealed where Kairi and Peter sat and circled around over Kairi's head before landing lightly on her shoulder, nuzzling her feathered cheek against Kairi's.

"I missed seeing you Kairi," Menelmon cooed, rubbing her head up and down. Kairi set her food down on a clear spot of the bench next to her and wrapped her hand around the small bird.

"I missed you too Menelmon," she said softly, hugging the digimon closer to her. She had forgotten how soft and soothing Menelmon's feathers against her cheek were. They held the pose for a few more seconds before Kairi heard Naminé's voice and then they slowly broke apart. Before Kairi could even extend a greeting to Naminé however, Menelmon gasped.

"Kairi what happened to you?" she demanded, her brown eyes taking in every bruise she could spot. Kairi sighed again.

"It was the guy who interrogated me yesterday," she said, shaking her head. "And I'm not going to talk about it."

"You don't have to Kairi," Peter said. "We just need to discuss what happened on Destiny Islands so we can plan a defence, nothing more."

"I'm going to tear whoever did this to you apart," Menelmon said angrily, her rounded beak snapping dangerously. Kairi winced slightly as the digimon's feet dug a little into her shoulder.

"And I'd still like to know what happened," Naminé said, coming up to them. "I'm not going to look through your memories Kairi. You and Sora were right back on the _Highwind_. Roxas and I had our privacy when we were within you as nobodies, you deserve yours now."

Kairi smiled at her now sister. _Thank you Naminé. That means a lot._

_Sure thing Kairi,_ Naminé replied.

Kairi looked at Menelmon, who was still looking quite angry, and quietly said, "Can you help me tell Peter and Naminé what happened Menel?" The female bird digimon gave a long exhale of air to calm herself down from the short bout of anger at seeing Kairi's bruises.

"Of course I will Kairi," she said.

Over the next fifteen minutes while Kairi ate, giving Menelmon occasional pieces of her meal, Kairi and Menelmon explained to Peter Banning and Naminé just what had befallen the four of them on Destiny Islands and how the destruction of Sora's arm had come to pass. Afterwards, Peter asked about what Kairi did with Maleficent to cause them to charge her with treason, and Kairi alone now told the three of them (Naminé and Menelmon hearing it for the second time now) why it was she had called Maleficent to Radiant Garden. Throughout the course of it all, Kairi and Menelmon had had to explain about digimon, the digital world, and the digivices. They did not go so far however as to allow Menelmon to digivolve before Peter's eyes.

Peter sat in silence for a couple of minutes after Kairi had finished her tale his eyes closed and his face pensive. "I've got something," he said at last, opening his eyes and looking at Kairi. "It's entirely technical, but it works. Kairi, do you know what you are charged with?"

"Yes," said Kairi. "Assault causing bodily harm, and treason."

"Aha!" Peter exclaimed. "We have them! You're completely innocent, and we're going to prove it in court."

"Have them?" Naminé asked in confusion. "How do we have them? She _did_ those things. How can Kairi legally be innocent?"

"Do you want to see me dead or in jail for the rest of my life Naminé?" Kairi asked sarcastically, glancing at Naminé. The other princess immediately grimaced.

"That's not what I meant Kairi and you _know_ it," she said, glaring at her sister.

"Like I said it's a technicality," Peter continued, not perturbed by the slight bickering of the two teenagers. "A technicality based on the charges itself. You're being charged with assault and treason. You never _intended _to hurt Sora, and you never _intended_ to betray Radiant Garden or our side at all, they got their facts mixed up entirely on that one and we can even throw out the charge of assault."

"I don't get it," Menelmon said, voicing the opinion of the three females present with the lawyer. Menelmon was too naïve, Kairi was tiring even after sleeping all day and was working off of a huge box of Chinese food, and Naminé's mind was slightly on the duel she'd lost against Riku earlier in the day.

"Intent Menelmon," Peter stated emphatically. "Intent! In intent lies Kairi's salvation."

"But," Kairi began.

Peter cut her off, desperately trying to explain it so that she'd understand. "Assault can only be proven when it's proven that a person had the intent to harm another individual. You tried to heal Sora, you didn't want to hurt him; it was completely accidental. And you never committed a treasonous act when you tried to surrender to Maleficent. You had given up hope and believed that we'd lose and that we'd lose a lot of life in fighting her. Perhaps we will, perhaps we won't. It all depends on how long the conflict will drag on once started earnestly. However your surrender was a personal one with terms that actually favoured us. You were trying to better our position while also having the motive of getting Sora off of his butt, having him storm the castle, kick ass, defeat Maleficent, and save his princess, making your surrender a catalyst for Maleficent's defeat. You never did betray anyone. You never surrendered Radiant Garden to Maleficent to be run by her and heartless, and you never offered to join her. You only offered to be her prisoner. You didn't commit an act of treason."

Kairi's eyes finally lit up halfway through Peter's explanations. She glanced happily at Naminé and Menelmon, who both began to smile at the one on Kairi's face. "You are entirely innocent Kairi," concluded Peter. "Now we just have to prove it to the jury." His face became pensive once more and he placed his chin in his hand. "It's going to take a bit of work though, the jury don't know you as well as the rest of us do. And I don't even know you as well as some of your other friends."

"What do you want us to do then?" Naminé asked. Peter quickly looked at her, causing Naminé's body to go backwards a little bit at the sharpness of the movement. But he didn't speak just yet, a plan formulating in his mind.

"Get everyone possible on world who knows Kairi to be in the courthouse tomorrow," he said at last. "We need them at the trial. _I_ need them at the trial. I need to ask for their permission to use them as character witnesses. You and Riku are probably going to be my best ones, so make sure the two of you are there." Naminé nodded. Peter turned to Kairi and looked slightly into the sky. The Sun was now golden and dipping into the horizon.

"I think you should try and get some more sleep Kairi," he said. "Tomorrow's going to be a very long day."

-A-D-

Radiant Garden's courthouse was the size of a four story building, its exterior made of solid granite with columns out front carved into the shape of bending vines around the trunks of trees. Fifteen wide stone steps led up to its oak front doors, brass railings dividing the stairs into four separate sections. Two story-tall glass windows were set into the building, providing a large amount of light in sunny days. Its floors were a mixture of black and white marble as well as mahogany wood, and the atrium held busts of previous famous lawyers and judges as well as many paintings of varied subjects that ranged from hangings to romances in gardens. The building itself was also on the same block as the building that had been converted into the Parliament Building, so it was in a very prestigious part of the inner city.

And today the courthouse happened to be a hornet's nest of activity as hundreds of people tried to flood into the building to witness the trial of their Princess, Kairi Talerith. Because the case had such a high profile, the selected courtroom had two floors with wings on the upper level on three sides of the room to observe the proceedings.

The princess herself was already sitting in the courtroom, bracers on her hands that had previously been explained to her by her cell guards prevented the use of magic or summoning of her keyblade. She felt very weak and like she was being smothered and caged. The metal was heavy on Kairi's wrists, and she had seen that her bruises had not healed much over the night, adding to the small amount of humiliation she felt when each new person gasped at the sight of the unsightly blemishes on her.

Granted not many of them were visible, as Naminé had been able to sneak a different set of clothes to Kairi in the morning. Since Kairi had complained to her mentally before she had departed with Peter back to the dungeons about how she felt about her legs, which culminated in a quick, yet interesting conversation with Naminé about Riku's observations on how the two of them dressed. Even so, Kairi was no longer within the pink dress she had previously worn. Now Kairi was garbed in a pair of black denim jeans with a pristine white belt, and a thick cotton long-sleeved shirt the same colour of her hair.

Kairi turned her head around slightly in her seat to glance at all the people that she could see behind them to her right. The people she knew that she was able to catch sight of consisted of three of the other princesses of heart (Alice, Belle, and Jasmine), their assorted consorts of Penelope, Prince Alain, Gaston, Lefou, Aladdin, Abu, Iago, Carpet, and Genie, and Aerith and Leon. She couldn't see any others, but she knew that they were all seated behind her. When she had seen Riku and Roxas, the two of them had been absolutely furious, and they almost scared her with how angry they were.

"Don't worry Kairi," Peter said from beside her to the girl's right side. Kairi looked up from looking past him. "They're all here, and they've consented." Kairi smiled slightly and turned back towards looking at the empty throne in front of them, her eyes straying off to the left to spot the bailiff.

"You nervous?" asked Peter. Kairi felt a slight flutter in her stomach at the thought of nerves. She'd had lunch and was looking forward to supper afterwards, but so far was struggling in a battle to keep the food already in her stomach down.

"I'll be better when this is over," whispered Kairi in response. "But... I feel better knowing that you're on the job and that I am innocent." At her own words her eyes sought out the jury on the right hand side of the courthouse and saw all fifteen seats occupied by varied men and women.

The gate separating the spectators (_spectators_, Kairi snorted. It sounded like they were at a blitzball game) from the accused opened and Kairi's head turned towards the culprit. Her heart plummeted when she saw the scarred bald man with his red eyes. The smirk he was giving her was almost enough to make her begin to cry again.

It was the same man...

"Kairi!"

_Kairi, if that's the guy, don't give him the satisfaction of getting to you!_ Peter's insistent whisper and Naminé's sudden commentary startled Kairi away from her own thoughts. She looked directly behind her at where Naminé was sitting, and Naminé appeared just as surprised as Kairi that her message had gotten through.

Peter's hand touched Kairi's shoulder and she looked at him, nodding after a second. She was innocent, and they would prove it to this man and to Radiant Garden so that none could deny that Kairi was a good person.

"All rise for the Honourable Judge Ashley Baker."

Kairi rose along with everyone else in the courtroom, watching as the judge entered. Her ivory skin appeared to be well cared for, as was the golden hair that was tied up in a knot on the back of her head. Her black robes waved loosely around her ankles and her brown eyes were very clear and set. The judge sat down and so did everyone else in the courtroom.

"Are we ready to begin?" Judge Baker asked a man who sat at a small table in front of and to the left of her seat at the base of the wooden throne-like construct. The court scribe nodded his head, his fingers poised over a typewriter. "Trial of the twenty-fourth of September, Princess Kairi Talerith vs. the People of Radiant Garden,  
the judge said, the scribe's fingers already flying over the typewriter, "Judge Ashley Baker presiding. Jurors," she read the fifteen names off of a piece of paper in front of her and looked up and towards the prosecution.

The bald and scarred man took that as his cue as he stood up. "Witness for the prosecution: Frederick Mahoney." He looked towards Peter and Kairi and sneered slightly in an arrogant manner when his eyes glazed over Kairi.

"Witness for the defence," said Peter as he stood up, "Peter Banning."

"The accused," the judge continued, "Princess Kairi Talerith of Radiant Garden, current place of residence: Destiny Islands. The charges: assault causing bodily harm, and treason." She then peered down at Kairi.

"You are Princess Kairi Talerith of Radiant Garden?" she questioned. Kairi stood and took a breath to calm herself.

"I am your honour."

"And do you currently reside in Destiny Islands?"

"I'm not sure how to answer that question your honour," Kairi replied, painfully remembering how different Felra and the play island now looked compared to when she had first left them. "Right now, I have no physical place to call home."

"I'll rephrase," Judge Baker said, "the last place you lived was Destiny Islands, correct?"

"Yes your honour," replied Kairi, nodding.

"And do you understand the charges against you?"

"I do your honour."

"And how do you plead to the charges? Guilty or not guilty?"

Peter nudged his head slightly closer to Kairi. "Not guilty," he whispered.

"Inn- Not guilty," Kairi corrected herself quickly, her tongue slipping up in wanting to say the word 'innocent'. The Judge nodded at her and at the court scribe as a small amount of muttering began in the crowds watching.

"You may be seated," she said. Kairi, Peter, and Frederick all sat down and the Judge looked at Frederick. "We have heard the charges and the accused has plead 'Not Guilty', would the prosecution please present its case."

"Yes your honour," Frederick said. He stood up and gave Kairi a very quick glare before leaving his table and going forward to address the jury. "The _Princess_, as you have heard, has decided to plea not guilty to the charges against her. I intend to prove to you that she is in fact, very guilty of assault against Master Sora, and treason against Radiant Garden, and that she should have no right to ascend to the throne to rule Radiant Garden upon her nineteenth birthday."

"This case in particular," he continued, addressing the jury and judge while waving his finger slightly, "is rather difficult due to its peculiarities. For our knowledge, the only ones who were present at the events were Kairi Talerith, Master Sora, Maleficent herself, and the two digital monsters that are the partners of the accused and the victim-"

"Objection your honour, the prosecution is stalling!"

"Sustained. Wrap it up counsellor." Frederick glared at Peter for a fraction of a second before continuing.

"It has been very difficult to gather evidence for this case," Frederick said. "But I have procured a conversation in which the accused admits to doing the deed. Allow me to present Exhibit A." He pressed a button on a player that sat on his table and Kairi's heart began to turn in funny circles when she heard Sora's voice issuing from it. The entire courthouse went deathly quiet as all leaned in to listen.

"We weren't exactly telling the truth when we said that Maleficent destroyed my arm."

"Huh?" Goofy's voice asked. "But, she must have."

Kairi's heart began to pound when she heard her own voice. Did she really sound like that? "We weren't exactly lying either."

"Well what happened?" Donald's angry and confused jabber quacked. There was a slight pause on the tape in which all that could be heard was the white noise of the recorder itself. Kairi's heart plummeted and she looked down. She could feel the eyes of her friends on the back of her neck even through the silence.

"I did it," came her voice. Frederick clicked a button on the recorder that stopped it and Kairi's head snapped up to look at it suddenly. There was a tumult of voices behind her and the judge was banging on her gavel and calling for order, but Kairi did not notice this. He had stopped the recording. He had stopped it before it could get to the explanation as to why it had happened!

"You bastard," Kairi growled under her breath such that Peter was the only one who heard her. "How did you even get that?"

Frederick simply grinned smugly at her, as if guessing her exact words.

The courtroom settled down again and the prosecution began to speak once more. "I also have a video shot by the cameras of that show Wartime Battlewatch. This is the unedited, untouched footage from a conversation that the accused and Maleficent had before the battle commenced. Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, I present Exhibit B." Several screens that were mounted on the walls of the courtroom flickered to life, and Kairi couldn't help but look at the nearest one, seeing herself standing in the rain in the brown cloak that kept the water off of her body, and Maleficent standing in front of her. There were numerous gasps from the people watching the proceedings, for it was their first glimpse at the sorceress.

"You spare the lives of Sora, Roxas, Naminé, Riku, Asterix, King Mickey, their friends and kin," the recording of Kairi said.

Kairi's eyes hardened and she glared at Frederick with such intensity that any of her friends or enemies save Maleficent and Nixion should have quailed beneath their gaze. But Frederick seemed to be made of stronger stuff than that, and returned the glare with a smugness that only irritated Kairi further.

He wasn't playing everything. He was only playing the parts that suited his case. It was infuriating!

"And in return?" asked Maleficent in a drawn out question.

"In return," Kairi's recording held, her head turned towards Maleficent for a short while before it recoiled quickly, as if she couldn't bear to look at the witch anymore. "You get me," it finished weakly and in a submissive tone.

The screens went black just as Maleficent began to cackle.

"This is not looking good Peter," Kairi whispered to him as the crowd behind them began to chatter again.

"Don't worry Kairi," Peter assured her. "He's making his case, we're going to make ours. Trust me, our defence is tight."

"Do you have anything more Mr. Mahoney?" Judge Baker asked.

"I do your honour," he replied. "I'd like to call Maser Sora's cousin Sade to the stand." Kairi's face scrunched up in confusion and she looked directly behind her to see that Sade was just as surprised as she was that he was being called to the stand. Still though he rose slowly, seemingly conscious of the couple of hundred pairs of eye upon him, and strode past the barrier as the bailiff opened it for him, and up to the stand next to the judge.

"Raise your right hand and place it over your heart," the bailiff instructed. Sade did. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

"I do," Sade replied.

"You may be seated," said the bailiff before going to stand to the side as usual. Sade sat down.

"Now Sade…" Mahoney began, rolling his hand as if searching for a surname.

"Just Sade," the boy answered. "We don't have last names on Destiny Islands."

"Very well then Sade," Frederick continued. "You were there when Kairi destroyed your cousin Sora's arm, were you not?"

"I was," Sade replied.

"What did it look like?" Frederick asked. Sade rolled his head slightly and looked a little at Kairi.

"I don't know," he replied. "The only thing I saw when my parents and I arrived on our chocobos was a blinding light and then Kairi collapsing."

"Anything else?" Frederick asked.

"Cossex was fighting Maleficent," he said, drawing a few surprised gasps from the crowd, "there was a 'whoosing' sound as a portal of darkness opened and Maleficent disappeared, and that was all."

"That was all?"

"That was all," Sade repeated, a little more forcefully to get the point across.

"So after the light," Frederick continued, "what did Sora look like when you and your parents reached him?"

"When we got up to him he was a mess," Sade answered, his voice shaking, "both he and Kairi were hurt pretty badly. There was a bad gash on Kairi's back and Sora's arm was missing. Both of them were unconscious and bleeding badly. They were both cold and soaked wet from the rain."

"Thank you Sade," Frederick said. He turned and looked at Peter. "Your witness counsellor."

Peter stood and looked directly into Sade's jade eyes as he strode up to the podium upon which the teen sat. "Sade, how long would you say to have known Kairi?"

Sade blinked a couple of times and looked up into his eyebrows. "About six years," he answered, looking back down at Peter.

"And did you ever actually see Kairi destroying Sora's arm?"

"No but,"

"In the time that you've known Kairi," Peter cut him off, "how would you describe her relationship with Sora?"

"Objection your honour!" Frederick Mahoney said quickly. "Relevance."

"I'm building a character your honour," Peter stated, looking at the judge.

"I'll allow it," she said, nodding. "Overruled. Please answer the question son."

Sade shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but someone (Kairi suspected his mother) caught his eyes and he seemed to gain a little bit more confidence.

"They've been close friends for a long time," Sade answered. "And I hadn't seen Kairi for a while before we found her and Sora in the storm. But to me it looks like both Kairi and Sora have fallen in love with each other."

_Well there's the understatement of the century_, Naminé's voice echoed in Kairi's mind. She tried her hardest to suppress a giggle, but failed.

Sade smiled. "It looks like Kairi thinks that that's obvious," he said humourously. There was a small amount of laughter from behind and above Kairi that was able to flutter to her ears.

"So," Peter drew on, "in your mind, without having actually seen anything, do you see any reason for Kairi to do this to Sora?"

"No," Sade replied.

"Thank you," said Peter. "No further questions."

"You may step down," Judge Baker said to Sade. Heaving a sigh, Sade left the stand and passed back down to the audience. When he passed by Kairi's table she and he shared looks, and Kairi could see the nervous sweat that had been on his face.

"For my next witness," Frederick began again, "I'd like to call Princess Kairi's digimon partner Menelmon to the stand."

Kairi sharply looked at the prosecution in anger. How dare he even _speak_ to her partner! But, Menelmon was called to the stand and softly flew past Kairi, allowing her wingtip to rub against Kairi's cheek in a soft and comforting gesture. Kairi flinched slightly as it stroked against one of the bruises on her cheek, and she glared further at Frederick. That Menelmon's touch should hurt her was appalling.

The bailiff swore Menelmon in and Mr. Mahoney approached the female bird digimon. "You were present during the battle on Destiny Islands, were you not?"

"I was," Menelmon snapped. "I fought alongside Kairi, Keys, and Ohtarmon. I wouldn't be a very good partner if I didn't fight to protect Kairi."

"Keys?" Frederick asked, confused.

Kairi couldn't help but snort in a short burst of laughter.

Judge Baker raised an eyebrow at Kairi. "Would you please explain to us what is so funny milady?"

Kairi dodged the question slightly and addressed Menelmon directly. "You're still calling Sora by the nickname we gave him in the Digital World then are you Menelmon?"

"Or I could say Sora Number Two," Menelmon answered, smiling as much as her beak would allow.

"To clarify," Frederick said loudly, glaring at Kairi before turning back to his witness, "we are speaking about Keyblade Master Sora, correct?"

"Well we aren't talking about Sora Takenouchi are we?" Menelmon asked.

"Answer the question please," Judge Baker said.

"I'm sorry your honour," Menelmon apologized to her, dipping her head before returning to looking at Mahoney. "Yes we are."

"How would you describe Sora after he and the accused awoke?"

"Bitter, sad, mean, dejected, in poor spirits, unable to summon the keyblade, sorrowful, lost," Menelmon rattled off, clearly still irritated at Sora's poor actions towards her partner when he woke up.

"Wait wait wait!" Frederick said quickly, holding up his hands. "Unable to summon the keyblade?"

Kairi shook her head slightly at her partner when the brown eyes of Menelmon sought her out. _You shouldn't have said that Menelmon. Too late now though_.

"Yes," Menelmon said in a sigh. "Keys couldn't call his key after he woke up." There was an immediate tumult in the courtroom, which was only restored after several bangs of the gavel on the part of Judge Baker.

"Remember dear," she said, looking at the bird digimon. "You are still under oath."

"A good digimon does not lie," Menelmon retorted angrily. "There is no black gear in me and I am not under Etemon's payroll." The only one within the room who would understand what it was that Menelmon was talking about smiled while the judge merely took Menelmon's word for it.

"Sora can no longer summon the keyblade," said Frederick in a loud whisper, musing to himself for a second. He looked sharply at Menelmon. "What would you say would cause him to lose the keyblade?"

"Objection your honour!" Peter said quickly. "Relevance?"

"I have a point your honour," Frederick assured the judge quickly.

"Overruled," the judge said. "Proceed quickly counsellor."

"I'll be brief," said Frederick. "Menelmon, Menel-"

"Don't call my partner that!" Kairi snapped. There was a screech behind her and heads turned to see Aiwemon flapping his wings and flying above the crowd, his eyes glowing a violent electric blue. Menelmon herself was looking at Mahoney furiously.

Judge Baker's gavel came down hard. "I will have order in my courtroom," she said sternly. "Mr. Mahoney, please refrain in future from using names other than that which is given."

"I will your honour," he said, glancing as Aiwemon floated back down to where he was sitting atop Goofy's left shoulder. He looked back at Menelmon to see her brown eyes still filled with rage. "Menelmon, could it be possible that Kairi destroying Sora's arm could be the cause for his loss of the keyblade?"

"Objection your honour, counsel is speculating."

"Sustained."

"I'll rephrase," Mr. Mahoney said. "Did the destruction of Sora's arm at Kairi's hands contribute to the loss of his keyblade?"

"Maybe," Menelmon answered. "But-"

"No further questions," he said, looking towards Peter as he stood.

"Menelmon you were about to continue answering Mr. Mahoney's question," Peter stated. "What was it you were going to say?"

"I was going to say that I didn't think it did," answered Menelmon.

"And why is that?" Peter asked.

"Because I was there in the battle, I experienced what was happening at the time that it happened."

"What happened?" Peter asked.

"Sora's arm was covered in darkness," Menelmon said. "Ninquemon and I were helping Kairi pin Sora to the ground, and then that's when it happened and Sora's arm was destroyed."

"How did Sora's arm become covered in darkness?" Peter asked, in intrigue. Menelmon looked down.

"I didn't actually see that part," she said in shame. "I had just been hit by one of Maleficent's attacks and reverted all the way from Soronmon to Luinmon, my In-Training form."

"Any other reasons for your earlier description of Sora once he and Kairi regained consciousness?"

"He was sad because his mother and his home were destroyed," Menelmon said, "and he'd lost his confidence that he could defend Kairi and the worlds. King Mickey believes that that's why he lost his ability to summon the keyblade, that he'd lost sight of who he was."

Peter nodded. "What was it that Kairi was trying to do when Sora's arm was destroyed?"

"She was trying to heal it with her light," Menelmon answered.

"And what do you mean by that?"

"Kairi believed that she could purge the darkness from his arm and bring it back to the way it had been before using her light," Menelmon answered sadly. "It didn't work."

"Thank you," Peter said. "No further questions." Menelmon nodded and flew back to where she had been sitting on Goofy's opposite shoulder.

"I would now like to call the accused, Kairi Talerith to the stand," Frederick said. Kairi grimaced and rose from her seat and strode towards the podium. She was sworn in by the bailiff and Frederick stood in front of her, grinning while Kairi glared at him. She was innocent of these charges; she would not let him get to her again.

"You destroyed Sora's arm?" he asked.

Kairi nodded. "Yes but-"

"You asked Maleficent to come to Radiant Garden?"

"Yes but-"

"You offered to give yourself up to her in exchange for the freedom of your friends?"

"Yes and-"

"Your lover can no longer summon the keyblade?"

Kairi snarled at him as she forcibly put certain thoughts out of her mind. "I already told you-"

"Answer the question!" Frederick snapped.

Peter grinned. This man, while good, was finding it hard in the public eye to keep his hostility towards Kairi buried when she was in front of him for a second time.

"Sora, as of now, can no longer summon the keyblade."

"And whose fault is this?"

"His own," Kairi answered.

"Is it not yours?" Frederick asked.

"What do you mean?" Kairi asked.

"Could it be said dear princess," he continued, "that he would not have felt helpless, that he would not have lost confidence in himself; that he would not have faltered in his ability to summon the keyblade and duty to protect the worlds if you hadn't destroyed his arm?"

"He had lost his confidence on his own," Kairi said.

Her heart was in a little turmoil. He was providing valid arguments to her. But Sora had given her more reasons to believe that he would have lost the ability to summon the keyblade anyway. It would just have happened at a time that would be far more critical than it was now. In a way, they were lucky that Kairi had fought against Maleficent, for now they knew that the vast majority of her army was not actively ravaging the worlds.

"But couldn't destroying his arm have broken his confidence all the same?" Frederick asked. "If you hadn't betrayed your love by assaulting him, you wouldn't have betrayed all of us!"

"Objection your honour," Peter said quickly. "Counsel is being argumentative and badgering the defendant."

"Pick one counsellor," Judge Baker said.

"Argumentative," said Peter.

"Sustained."

"Withdrawn," Frederick said quickly. "Princess, have you ever been angry at Master Sora?"

"I'd be lying if I said no."

"Have you ever struck him before?"

Kairi froze and her mind wheeled back to when they were transformed into dolphinoids in Port Royal while they were swimming back to where the _Black Pearl_ had vanished beneath the waves. Her palm tingled as it remembered the slap she delivered Sora then and its sound rang through her ears, continuing again when the memory of slapping him after he broke up with her came to her mind too.

She looked down and glumly answered, "Yes, twice."

"Were both times when you were angry at him?" Frederick asked quickly, a new gleam in his eyes.

"Yes," answered Kairi.

"And were you angry when you destroyed his arm?"

"Very angry," answered Kairi. She opened her mouth to continue but Frederick stopped her.

"No further questions," he said. Kairi looked at him in disbelief before hanging her head and shuddering. She was not feeling very well anymore.

Peter stood and took one look at Kairi before looking at Judge Ashley Baker. "Your honour I request that we break for recess before I cross-examine the defendant."

"What does the prosecution say?" she asked, looking at Frederick.

"I ask that we have a longer break your honour and reconvene tomorrow," he said, smirking at Kairi as she sat in the witness stand. Judge Baker glanced at Kairi, who was showing no emotion either way, and then directed her gaze at Peter, who nodded.

"Very well," she said. "We shall reconvene for cross-examination tomorrow at 1330 hours." The bang of her gavel echoed through the courthouse.

At the same instant, the heads of Kairi, Riku, Naminé, and Roxas all jerked upwards. The gavel couldn't smother the sound of a roar that broke through all of their ears.

"Sora," the four whispered as one.

King Mickey's eyes opened from where he sat and he looked up towards the ceiling, he'd felt something just now, and his ears had caught the word Riku uttered.

"What was that Your Majesty?" Asterix asked from his place next to him. "I thought I felt something."

"The keyblade has returned to its master," King Mickey answered. He looked at Asterix. "I need you to stay here in case anything funny starts happening. The rest of us are leaving tonight."

"I understand Mickey," Asterix said.

Their conversation went unnoticed by Kairi, who was now being led back out of the courtroom by the bailiff.

_Watch your back tomorrow Fred, because Sora's keyblade needs to be fed._

-A-D-

_Did you know that this is now the longest chapter I've written? So if you don't review to this one, you're a smeghead._

_And the most famous use of that word is in the line, 'What the smegging smeg has the smeghead smegging done now?'_

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


	23. Islanders' Memories

_Last chapter. So that little word up top that says 'Complete', once again it is correct. So... this means that I would now implore every last one of you that want to be notified by e-mail message from of the exact date at which I will begin posting __**The Annals of Darkness: Part III: The War**__ to place me under your 'Author Alert' list. I will also be sending out a mass PM to everyone on the story alerts and story favourites list that doesn't have me on author alerts when I begin, but I can only send out sixty PMs a day, so it may take a few days to get to you. And it is also time consuming on my part, even though I will gladly do it just to give those who are too lazy to click a couple of buttons the opportunity to know when I have begun._

_However, I will be ticked when I finally get through it all._

_And you will see at the bottom that I have left replies to all the reviews submitted to the previous chapter at the time that this one went up. This will be the format from now on, except for reviews from this chapter, in which I shall continue to use the previous method of sending review replies through the site._

_Disclaimer: If I owned this it would either be a game or a published book and I'd have quite a bit of money more than I have now._

-A-D-

**A Week of Troubles**

Chapter XXIII: Islanders' Memories

Sora awoke in the Pride Lands before the Sun had even considered rising. As such, his eyes were greeted by the darkness of night. He shook his head and yowled slightly in a yawn as his dimly opened eyes began to adjust to the silvery light filtering into the lions' den as it came from the almost full moon and stars. Why did he have to wake up when it was so early?

Close his eyes as hard as he might, Sora couldn't get the afterimage of the silver moonlight reflecting off of the stone purged from his mind, and knowing that it would be pointless to continue trying to sleep, Sora moaned quietly so as to not wake the other sleeping felines, bird, meerkat and warthog that were in the blissful realm to which he could not find the ability to return to.

It was a pity. He'd been having such a good dream about him and Kairi in the Hundred Acre Wood too.

Sora stiffly padded his way out of the den and onto the promontory of Pride Rock, the moonlight shining down on him as too many stars to count twinkled pleasantly above him. His automail foreleg clinked with every step onto the rock, but Sora hardly noticed it now as it had become a part of him. The rest of him moaned at him to stop and rest as it recovered from the fight he'd had the previous day, but Sora ignored the stiff feeling in the areas where the cuts were still healing.

He came up to the tip of Pride Rock and looked over the Pride Lands as they lay bathed in the moon and starlight. Everything seemed so peaceful and beautiful at this time while the moon began to set and before the Sun would even bother peeking her fiery golden head up from her rest.

Excitement slowly rose within Sora to the point where it was all he could do to keep from leaping and bounding and shouting to the heavens in his happiness as he awaited the coming dawn and sunrise. For Simba had told him the previous night that very soon after sunrise all of the animals of the Pride Lands would gather around Pride Rock...

And he would then roar, to declare himself their Prince.

The thought continued to swirl in his mind. _Prince Sora. Prince Sora. Prince Sora. Sora: The Lion Prince; Prince of Pride Rock. Princess Kairi, Princess of Radiant Garden._

A prince was a prince, and he would become a prince just after dawn. They could be together for the rest of their lives. Now if only he could work up the courage and determination to propose to her...

Sora shook his head. They weren't ready. The worlds weren't ready. Maleficent still had to be defeated and they still had to pick up the pieces of their former lives before they could even continue on to thinking about the future. That and he needed a ring.

"The moon is beautiful tonight, isn't it?"

Sora frowned and quickly turned around at the voice to look at its owner, a female lion with rosy-red fur that in the darkness made it closer to a very dark red. The lioness wasn't the size of a cub though, it was more to what would be an adolescent lioness, making her bigger than Sora.

"Kairi?" he asked aloud. Sora was confused. The last time he'd been having images like this, Kairi's heart had dwelled within his and he was seeing images of her conjured up by it. But what really surprised him was that this Kairi was so much bigger than him. Her shoulders had to be at least a foot higher than his and her body was two and a half times as long, excluding the length of their tails.

Apparently something of the previous sort was happening again, for 'Kairi' did not answer his question, merely padded her way up next to him softly. Sora perked and strained his ears, but he could not hear her paws fall onto the ground. "But I find it even more beautiful when I'm with you," she continued, still looking at the sky and speaking in a soft and tender voice that made Sora's heart ache in longing for her and wish that she was really here.

Sora nodded at her words and looked up into the night sky. "Yeah, the moon is beautiful," he agreed, "but the only way it could be better is if you were really here Iri." He looked at her phantom and she only continued gazing into the night air.

"But they all share the same sky," he continued, "so as long as you and I are both looking at the moon and stars, no matter where we are, we're never alone."

"But I'm not looking at the moon," said Kairi, looking down and away. "I can't even see its light where I am." She turned and looked at Sora. "You said that you'd be back as soon as you could come. Hurry back to me Sora, because it isn't looking good right now."

"Well you're looking good," Sora countered. "You're bigger than me."

Kairi's head whipped towards his. "Are you saying I'm fat?" she asked.

"No," answered Sora. "I'm saying you're bigger than me. Take a look Kai." It was then that the phantom image of Kairi stared at him for a moment before looking around at herself, noticing that she was in fact larger than him in ever manner.

"How did that happen?" she asked to no one in particular. "Why would I be dreaming myself to be bigger than you?"

"What do you mean dreaming yourself?" Sora asked. "Aren't you some kind of figment of my heart's imagination like last time when your heart was in mine?"

"What are _you_ talking about?" Kairi asked. "I'm asleep in my cell and this is a dream."

"Well I'm not asleep and I know that I'm not dreaming Kairi," Sora said, walking around her and examining her fur with more scrutiny than before. He placed a paw to her side and was slightly surprised when his paw didn't go through it.

"Why'd you do that?" Kairi asked, confused as to Sora's actions.

Sora shook his head. "You're here, but you're not really here."

"Well if I'm not really here, could I do this?" Kairi asked. Sora looked at her inquisitively for a second and Kairi pounced on top of him. Her forelegs connected with his shoulders and he felt the weight of Kairi's much larger form cause him to topple to the stone promontory of Pride Rock.

They looked at each other in bewilderment as Sora struggled to regain the air in his crushed lungs. Kairi noticed this and retreated from a heaving Sora. "How is this possible?" she asked. "I'm dreaming and asleep, but you aren't. I'm still in Radiant Garden, but you're in the Pride Lands, and yet it's almost like I'm here in the Pride Lands with you."

"Could it be our hearts?" Sora wondered aloud. "But, why would this be happening? It's never happened before."

"Is it because I need you in Radiant Garden and my heart is calling out to you?" Kairi asked. "So it's making this a dream to me?"

"If that's true," Sora said, shaking his head and wandering around a bit, "why would it be happening now when it hasn't before. We've needed each other before. I'd dreamed about being with you while fighting Organization XIII, but nothing like this had ever happened."

"I don't know," Kairi answered, moving closer to him. She rubbed her neck over the top of his head, his spiky mane of chocolate hair starting to tickle her nose. "But I'm glad it is happening. I miss you Sora."

"I miss you too Iri," Sora whispered, wrapping his tail around her shoulders. He looked up. "And the night sky _is_ more beautiful with you here."

"What are you doing up at this time anyway?" Kairi asked in interest.

"Couldn't sleep," answered Sora. "Too excited."

"About what?" Sora smiled widely, but decided against telling Kairi right now.

"I'll tell you when I get back."

"Aw," Kairi whined, shoving him slightly with her larger body. "Tell me Sora. You got the keyblade back didn't you? That's it isn't it? You have the keyblade back so you're excited that you're going back to see me and Aiwemon in Radiant Garden and then we can continue adventuring together with Menelmon."

"Well yeah," he answered. He smiled a bit more. Half-truths ruled. Something about remembering Aiwemon and Menelmon in that moment made his mind run back to why it was that Kairi was in jail in the first place, their battle on Destiny Islands.

Destiny Islands...

"I've got it!" he exclaimed.

"Got what?" Kairi asked in interest.

"We'd never shared a paopu before," Sora answered. "That's why this is happening now. Our hearts were already strongly connected, but it looks like that little fruit has a bit more magic than we'd thought it did."

"Ah," Kairi said. "That makes some sense. But when does anything make sense in our lives anymore?" She sighed and looked dejectedly at the marvellous night sky. "Maleficent is out there, biding her time while her heartless build a fortress for her. And she's experimenting on turning the heart of a fallen world into a heartless."

"That's what she's doing?" Sora asked sharply. "When did you find out?"

"When I fought with her," answered Kairi. "That was a horrible night."

"Night yes," replied Sora. "But nights are not so bad when you think about what comes after."

"Huh?" Sora shook his head and looked towards the eastern horizon expectantly.

"_I know that the night must end;_

_And that the Sun will rise._

_And that the Sun will rise._

_I know that the clouds must clear;_

_And that the Sun will shine._

_And that the Sun will shine."_

"That's how I know," he said, feeling a rosy glow within him. "Because no matter how great the darkness, a light shines within."

"Pretty profound, coming from you," said Kairi teasingly.

"Hey, I learned it on my first adventure," Sora replied. "If it wasn't for what I learned then, I would have never been able to beat Xehanort's heartless when he tried to take Kingdom Hearts."

"And then you would have never brought the Islands and our parents back," Kairi said. She suddenly froze and looked at Sora with apology. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Sora cut her off when he laughed and smiled, looking up at the stars. "It's okay Kairi, I'm fine now."

"You are?"

Sora nodded. "I know that it isn't my fault, and that nothing we could have done would have stopped it from happening. But I can't keep living in the past and have to move forward. And I know now that I'll be able to do that, because my mom isn't really gone after all."

"She isn't?" Kairi asked, bewildered. Sora shook his head and continued looking at the stars, which were now fading slightly as a bit of light began to creep up on the horizon. He placed his right forepaw over his heart.

"She lives in me," he replied softly. "And she'll always be watching over me and will be proud of me so long as I continue to follow my heart."

"And what is your heart telling you now?" Kairi asked. Sora smiled to himself and got out from under Kairi, only to jump up on top of her and rub his paws across her head.

"To keep you close," he purred softly into her ear. And then he licked the side of her face. Kairi smiled underneath him and plopped onto her stomach, causing Sora to wobble off and onto the promontory. Kairi giggled as Sora rolled around and looked off into the horizon.

"The Sun is rising," she said, seeing the first golden-red rays breaking into view she looked sadly at Sora. "I'll see you when you get back here Sora."

"I'll come as soon as I can," Sora replied, inclining his head at Kairi, submitting to her wish. "But I have to do something for Simba first."

"Well my trial won't continue until this afternoon," Kairi added. "Just be quick. I love you."

"And I love you too Kairi," said Sora, coming up to her and straining his neck to lick the side of her face. Kairi giggled slightly at the feel of his tongue and licked the side of his face in return. Sora answered with a laugh and purred as Kairi nuzzled against his neck, purring likewise.

As the first glimpse of the Sun came into view in the corners of both Sora's and Kairi's eyes Sora watched as Kairi faded away in its light. He looked into the sky again and watched as the stars slowly became less and less visible as the sky turned from a mantle of sable into a robin's egg blue.

"Sora."

The keyblade master turned around at Simba's call and followed him back into the lions' den. "You know," Simba said as Sora came back in, noticing that he was smiling broadly, "I must be either mad, or brilliant to have made you my brother."

"Remarkable how often those two traits coincide," said Sora, "eh Simba?" Simba just shook his head.

-A-D-

"Are we there yet?" Tom asked.

Riku, Roxas, and Donald all groaned as one. That was the eighth time the British mutant had asked them that question.

"No Tom," Naminé said in a frustrated growl. "We are not there yet."

"So keep quiet you big palooka," Donald added.

"Hey, could you all keep it down?" Max asked from his seat in the pilot's chair of the _Highwind_, "I'm trying to fly here!"

"Look out Maxie!" Goofy shouted, pointing out in front of the ship.

Max rolled his eyes and quickly jammed his thumbs down on the triggers on the top rims of the steering wheel. A short burst of blue fire from the ships cannons spewed forth and obliterated the blue and purple heartless ship that had been heading straight for them on a collision course.

"I can handle myself dad," Max said. "We got stuck in a massive fleet of heartless when the Land of Dragons fell, and we made it out alive. Barely," he added quietly to himself.

"Well okay Max," said Goofy. "It's just that the way you fly this feller reminds me of how Sora used to fly it."

"How was that?" Riku asked in interest.

"The first time he took the wheel he crashed the ship in Deep Jungle!" Donald said angrily, apparently still angered that Sora had done an impromptu mutiny against him and took control of the _Highwind_.

"I take it you took it upon yourself to teach Sora how to fly the gummi ship Donald," King Mickey said with a smile.

"Of course we did King Mickey," Goofy said. "He wouldn't take no for an answer, ahyuk."

"Sounds like Sora alright," said Riku with a smile.

"He caught on fast," said Donald.

"And he's great now too," Roxas added. "Probably the best pilot amongst us, except for maybe me."

"Don't get so cocky Roxas," Riku said. "You haven't seen me fly yet."

Donald grumbled something under his breath.

"Hey what was that?" Roxas asked, looking down at the court magician.

"I said that if you think that you're better than this gummi ship's first pilot then you're asking for trouble!" Donald shouted. Roxas took a few steps back from Donald at the look on the duck's face.

"I said KEEP IT DOWN!" Max said from the pilot's seat. "Everyone go down to the lounge now! I can't concentrate with you all bickering in my ear."

"Okay Max," said King Mickey. "Come on fellas, let's let the boy fly."

"Thank you your majesty," Max said in an exasperated tone, bending his neck over backwards so that he could look at everyone upside down. All those except for Max, being the persons of Riku, Roxas, Naminé, Tom, King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, left the bridge for the cabin just down the stairs from the bridge.

Tom plopped down on the couch with his chest first and shagged his arms over its ends. "Why the 'ell did we 'ave to get up so early when we aren't even there yet?"

"So that we'll be awake when we get there," Riku answered, sitting down in a chair to the side. He sighed and looked down, but there was a faint smile on his lips. Naminé looked at him curiously as she sat at the end of the couch just in front of Roxas' legs.

"You miss Yuffie," she said.

"Yep," Riku answered in one word. He shook his head. "It's only been a few hours and I already miss her. Damn, how in the name of the worlds can you stand being away from Minnie for so long Mickey?" He looked at the monarch of Disney Castle for answered, but the King just sighed as his ears and shoulders drooped.

"It's hard," he replied. "But as long as I keep the thought in my heart that I will see her again, I can keep goin'."

"And you wrote her letters," Riku said. The King laughed.

"Well, yah, that did help too."

"I wonder how Sora and Kairi are able to cope with being apart so many times?" Goofy wondered aloud.

"It's hard on them too," Naminé replied. "When they were adventuring together aboard the _Highwind_ for those weeks, I knew that the one thing that always drove Kairi to get her lazy butt out of bed every morning was to see Sora smiling at her and for him to give her a kiss 'good morning'."

"Same with Sora," Roxas added. He looked down at Naminé as she sat against his legs that dangled over the edge of the couch and she looked up at him. Naminé smiled and quickly moved to sit next to him, sharing a quick kiss as she sat back down.

"Blarg," Tom said. "Enough romance please."

"Just wait until you meet someone Tom," King Mickey said with a laugh. "And then you won't find it so bad."

"Hey how angry at that Frederick guy do you think Sora's going to be when we get back?" Roxas asked.

"Do you really want an answer?" Riku returned. "Remember how angry we were."

"Yeah, but Sora's going to be at least a thousand times angrier," answered Roxas.

"That's not going to be very good," Goofy said. "He almost went into his anti-form when we found Kairi fighting Maleficent. Who knows what'll happen when he finds out that it was that guy that hurt Kairi so badly?"

Before another could answer, Max's voice came from the bridge. "We're here!" They all looked up to see the dog-teenager coming down the stairs towards them. "Come on, let's go!"

"Right," Riku said, standing up from his chair. "Let's go and find him." The group collectively strode over to where the teleporter was and waited while Donald transformed them with his magic. He and Goofy became their traditional bird and turtle selves, and Max dropped down on all fours as he became a black wolf again. King Mickey shrunk down in size until he was the size and shape of a normal mouse with black fur, and Roxas became a lion cub with white fur and a spiky blonde mane again.

Naminé and Riku also became lions. Naminé's fur was a white blonde in the colour of her hair, and Riku's fur was a lighter shade of yellow, much like Naminé's (probably a mix between the colours on his vest), and a thick mane of silver-lilac hair had grown around his neck. What surprised Roxas and indeed everyone was that they were much bigger than anyone else present.

Tom was a brown-furred monkey with metal slits on his arms for where his arm-blades came out.

"How come you two are bigger than me?" Roxas asked, looking at Naminé and Riku in astonishment. "We're all lions."

"Uh…" Riku said, looking around. "We're older."

"But…" Roxas said. He sighed and hung his head. "I guess that a month and a half's difference means everything doesn't it Naminé?" Nobody answered him.

Donald and Goofy were prominently surprised when the group teleported down into the Pride Lands. They recognized that they were in the savannah, but it had changed so much since they had last actually been in the Pride Lands that they felt themselves at a loss.

"The place sure looks different," said Goofy, looking around with his head poking out from his turtle shell.

"Looks the same to me," Max said, taking a look at a couple of the trees, "Except I can't hear any of the animals like when we made our way through to find Simba, right Roxas?"

Roxas perked his ears up and took a couple of steps forward through the grass. "You're right Max. It's like there's nobody here."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," said Riku.

"Why?" Tom asked. Riku answered by jerking his head towards a rising cloud of dusk.

Max smiled. "Oh yeah, now I can hear-" his words died in his throat as everyone realized that the sounds that had now slipped into their hearing were very loud and getting very close.

"What do you think this is?" King Mickey asked, feeling the earth underneath his small body shudder alternately.

"I don't know," Roxas answered, lifting the toes of his paws above the ground and feeling the earth beneath them anxiously.

"Should we get out of here?" Naminé asked him, sliding up close to him even though she was the larger of the two. Roxas looked up at her.

"I don't know," he said. "Maybe we should wait and see what it is."

"Why wait?" Donald asked, and he quickly flew above them into the sky. They could hear him jabbering excitedly not two seconds later before he came down. His excitement was not what they had expected, it was really terror.

"Calm down Donald," King Mickey said sternly, trying to understand the incoherent squawks coming from his court magician. "What's goin' on?"

"Stampede!" Donald spluttered out. "A thousand animals are leaving Pride Rock and coming this way!"

Riku's head sharply turned towards where the sound was coming from and his eyes widened horribly when he saw the crowning top of an elephant's grey head crest the hilltop they were by. "Run!" he ordered. "Follow me!" Riku turned tail and fled. Naminé was right behind him, and Roxas was just on her tail. Goofy slid along with unknown agility in his turtle shell with Max by his side, and King Mickey had been scooped up and was riding on Donald as the bird flew after the other five. Tom climbed up a tree.

Riku was surprised at how little he fumbled on his paws as he ran, but maybe that was because he was simply running and leaping rather than trying to walk. It seemed to him a whole lot easier than Sora had made it out to be when he had been talking about being a lion cub. Riku's paws splashed into water and he looked down curiously. He and his companions had just run straight into a…

A water hole?

The elephants behind them trumpeted and the entire group scattered to avoid becoming mere pancakes on the ground, and for Donald it would have been the second time he'd been flattened (except the first time was courtesy of Yuffie and a door in Traverse Town).

"What the heck?" Naminé asked as she panted beside Roxas, both of them with their fur completely drenched by the spray as the pachyderms stormed into the water hole, the liquid frothing and splashing everywhere. A leopard came up next to them and bent his neck down to drink.

"Stupid elephants," he muttered, "they think they own the place just because they're bigger than the rest of us." And without further comment, yet a glare at the giant animals, he began to lap water into his mouth with his tongue.

The group came around Roxas and Naminé, looking inquiringly as other animals like gazelles and antelope and wildebeest began to move past the water hole. Some of the gazelles stayed, while a whole herd of zebras raced past them all.

"What was happening at Pride Rock?" Donald wondered aloud.

"Well why don't we go check it out and ask Simba?" Goofy asked, looking up at Donald.

"Yeah, he might know where Sora is," said Roxas. "Or wait, man I'm an idiot."

_Sora it's me, where are you?_ Roxas smiled when he heard Sora's voice answer in his head.

_On my way from Pride Rock to the water hole_, came the reply. _Where are all of you guys?_ Roxas looked around and laughed slightly to himself.

_We're at the water hole_.

_Great! See you there._

"He's on his way here," Roxas said.

"So what are we supposed to do while we wait?" Tom asked, swinging in from a tree.

"I'm not sure," Riku answered, "drink water?"

"Hey guys!"

They looked around at the sound of Sora's voice to see him coming down towards them. His automail leg was gleaming in the light of the Sun and he was practically prancing as he made his way towards the water hole. His friends were all surprised when a couple of antelope that had been chatting by a tree noticed his approach near them and bowed their heads in his direction. But so intent on Sora Roxas and Naminé did not notice when the leopard that had been drinking near them lifted his head and looked towards Sora before bowing to him as well.

"You look happy Sora," Goofy said, looking over his friend.

"You could say that," answered Sora, coming down to the water hole. He noticed the leopard and inclined his head towards him in a quick nod before dipping his head down towards the water's surface. His friends stared at him as his tongue lapped up water into his mouth. "What?" Sora asked when he finally noticed their looks.

"Are you sure you want to drink that Sora?" Roxas asked, pointing his paw at the water hole. It was a little brown.

"The water's fine Roxas," Sora answered. "I've been drinking it for a while now, and I haven't suffered from it yet." His eyes then widened when he looked at Naminé and Riku for a second time, finally realizing something. "Hey, you're both bigger than me!"

"Duh Sora," Riku answered, "We are older than you."

"Are you ready to go Sora?" King Mickey asked, scampering onto Donald's bill. Sora looked away from the King as his muzzle dripped a little water. His eyes appeared to stray towards the gazelles that were also drinking. One of them appeared to catch his eye and began to move away, slowly at first, and then its speed increased.

"Give me a minute," Sora said quickly. "There's something I need to do."

"Do we really have time for this?" Naminé asked. "Kairi's position is not looking that good right now Sora."

"I love Kairi Naminé," Sora answered. "But she's not my only friend. Donald, Goofy, can you help me with this?"

"Sure thing Sora," Goofy said. "Of course we'll help."

"Alright," Sora said. "Wait for us on the ship, we won't be too long. Max, prep the engines." Max nodded and Sora dashed away in the direction the gazelle went.

"Do you think 'e got a secret girlfriend while 'e was here?" Tom asked. Naminé struck his head with her paw.

-A-D-

Sora quickly sprinted through the long buffalo grass after Swara. She didn't understand yet, but Sora wouldn't leave without letting her know just who and what he was. Donald and Goofy behind him (and King Mickey as the mouse was still on Donald's bill) were oblivious as to why he was chasing after this gazelle, but figured it had to be important for Sora to delay returning to Radiant Garden to see Kairi.

He caught sight of Swara slowing down in front of him, and called her name. The female gazelle turned around and glared at him as he approached. "What do you want?" she asked harshly.

Sora winced at the tone she was using with him. "Aren't we friends Swara?"

"How can I be friends with a person I do not even know?" Swara retorted.

"Am I allowed to explain myself?" Sora asked. "Can I tell you who I am?"

"I don't know," Swara answered sarcastically. "You've been avoiding telling me about that leg of yours since I met you. Why should I believe that you would tell me now?"

"Swara don't make me order you to listen to me," Sora said angrily. She wasn't making this very easy for him to explain to her. He thought he'd already meddled in the affairs of other worlds enough, but it wouldn't do too well to have his friends angry at him for not trusting them.

Swara froze and looked at him before bowing in submission. "Yes, Prince Sora."

Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey all looked at Sora in surprise. "Prince?" Donald squawked loudly in confusion.

"Yes Donald," Jiminy Cricket said as he bounded out of Sora's mane and onto the bird's bill to stand next to King Mickey. "Two days ago, King Simba took Sora in as his foster brother, which makes him a Prince of Pride Rock. He's not of the bloodline though, so he wouldn't inherit the throne unless some kind of catastrophe struck."

Sora only half-heartedly listened to Jiminy Cricket speaking, noticing that Swara's eyes were now on Jiminy and his top hat and tailcoat. "Swara," he said quietly, drawing the female gazelle's attention back to him. "You don't have to believe me, or forgive me for not trusting you to understand, just hear me out."

"Okay," Swara said slowly, though there was still a little angered hurt in her voice. "Could you answer my questions?"

"I owe you at the least that much," Sora answered.

"Who are you?"

Sora turned his head towards his other friends that were with him and motioned for them to come and stand (or hover) next to him. They did, and Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey all looked curiously at the gazelle. "Swara, these are my friends: Donald, and Goofy, and the mouse is King Mickey."

"That didn't answer-"

"Take a look at Donald, Goofy, and me Swara," Sora said, cutting her off. "You had to have heard tales of us. Zira evidently has, given the way she spat at me when she heard my name." Swara in turn examined the turtle and bird, and it took her several seconds, but then her eyes grew wide from underneath the black bands of hair that surrounded them.

"You're the three that helped King Simba defeat Scar!" she said, taking a couple of steps backwards.

"Yep," Goofy laughed. "That's us, ahyuk!"

Sora summoned the keyblade into his tail, startling Swara as the Kingdom Key appeared within its grasp. "Swara," he said slowly, "you were right to wonder why I'm not able to track as well as a lion should, or that I should want to become friends with you, because even though I take the form of a lion when I'm in the Pride Lands, that's not what I am." The keyblade glowed with a white light in his tail's grasp and there appeared behind Sora a phantom apparition of what he looked like as a human, towering over them in his height. Next to him were a transparent Donald and Goofy and King Mickey, with Jiminy standing on Sora's left shoulder.

"We aren't from the Pride Lands," Sora said to an awestruck Swara. "We're not even from this world. We travel through the many worlds that there are, battling heartless and evil forces that try to destroy everything. Your world was lost over a year ago, and together Donald, Goofy, and I defeated the evil that had taken its heart and so restored it back to what it was, even though it meant that we restored a Pride Lands where Scar was King and Simba was in the jungles beyond the desert wastelands."

"And then Pete came by and helped Scar by giving him control of the heartless," Goofy said as the phantom images of himself and his friends and King vanished.

"Heartless?" Swara asked.

"You've already seen heartless," said Sora. "Those black creatures that had surrounded Kiara and Kovu yesterday were heartless, and the silver ones were known as nobodies."

"Every living thing has a heart, body, and a soul," King Mickey explained, Swara's head now bobbing towards the diminutive mouse. "A heartless is formed when a person's heart is consumed by darkness. A nobody is created by the body and soul left behind."

Sora's tail then moved the keyblade in front of him to show Swara the Kingdom Key. "This is known as keyblade," Sora said. "And it is the only weapon that can truly destroy heartless and release their captive hearts."

"And Sora's the chosen Master of the Keyblade," King Mickey added. "So it falls to him and our friends who are other wielders of the keyblade to travel to different worlds under threat by the heartless and help them out."

"So what are you doing here?" Swara asked. "If you should be out somewhere else, why did you come to the Pride Lands?"

"That's a touchy subject," Donald said. Sora looked down and let the keyblade vanish from his tail's grasp.

"I had stopped listening to my heart," Sora explained quietly. "I couldn't summon the keyblade anymore."

"And we believed that Simba could help him," said Jiminy. "Just like we helped him when Simba was being indecisive about dealing with Scar's ghost."

"And actually it worked," Sora said, laughing slightly. "Simba made me his brother, which made me Kiara's uncle, which really made her family, and so I began to worry a bit more about her than I would have otherwise."

"And that led you into thinking that she was in trouble yesterday," Swara finished, nodding her head as she began to understand. "So when you were fighting to protect her and for us to get away, you were able to summon the keyblade again."

"Exactly," Sora said with a smile.

"All this time…" Swara said slowly, looking down. "I've been friends and playing tag with a hero of the Pride Lands who helped defeat Scar. It's a lot to take in Sora."

"But Scar's not gone," Sora muttered darkly.

"He isn't?" Goofy asked.

"No, he's Xarcs now."

"A nobody?" King Mickey asked. Sora nodded his head.

"How could this get any worse?" Donald asked rhetorically.

"He left to find Nixion," Sora supplied. Donald dropped onto his feet and glared at Sora straight in the eye.

"You weren't supposed to tell me that," he grumbled. Sora shrugged.

"I felt you guys needed to know!" he said in his own defence.

Swara shook her head, her horns waving just above Sora's head and drawing his attention back to her. "This still never answers the first question I asked you about your leg."

"Oh right, the leg," Sora said quickly, glancing down at the automail. "Well, my friend Kairi and I were on-" he froze and his eyes became wide. Sora spun around sharply, King Mickey and the others backing up in surprise.

"Kairi!" he moaned. "We need to get back to help her!"

"What is it?" Swara asked cautiously. Sora quickly turned around again to look at her.

"It all ties in with my leg," he said. "Long story short, we were on another world and had a fight with a powerful enemy of ours, Maleficent. My arm-leg-whatever got hit by an attack of darkness and became consumed by it. I lost control of it and it started to hurt Kairi and two more of our friends that were helping us. Kairi tried to heal it with light, but she accidentally destroyed it. A few days ago some more friends of ours from another world made me this limb and attached it to my body. It hurt a whole lot when they were putting it in, but it's the only limb I have that you can hit and I won't feel any real pain in."

Swara blinked. "I don't get it."

Sora laughed slightly. "It's complicated. But Kairi's in trouble because of what she did, so now that I've got the keyblade back, I can go back and help her out." He began to turn away but then looked back. "Oh, and tell Simba from me that Scar sends his regards. Also tell him that he should watch his back in case someone not from this world shows up."

"Okay," Swara said, nodding her head. "I can do that. When will you be back?"

"Everyone asks us that question," Donald said tiredly.

"We're not sure," said Sora, giving Donald a smirk for his comment. "But when we are back, it'll probably be when heartless are causing trouble."

"Soon," Goofy added. "We like to make trips to check up on everybody."

"Okay," Swara said again, smiling now. "See you soon Sora."

-A-D-

The rest of the crew were waiting for them up on the _Highwind_, and Sora immediately went to the bridge and sat down in the pilot's chair to relieve Max. He'd already told Donald, Goofy, King Mickey and Jiminy that he wanted to be the one to tell the others that he was now a prince, but that didn't mean that Jiminy wasn't allowed to show them pictures and video he had shot while Sora was in the Pride Lands. This avenue of media included shots of Sora eating bugs as well as the entirety of when he proposed to Shenzi to occupy the hyenas long enough for him to escape on video.

Part of Sora's reason to go to the bridge and fly the ship back to Radiant Garden for the whole trip was to avoid having to face everyone as they took a look at Jiminy's works. His face was red enough already just from hearing their laughter.

The _Highwind_ streaked off into the void, passing by and through the odd formations and pathways made by various rings and structures and landmasses that happened to float in space, few heartless ships in their way to destroy. As Sora activated the gummi ship's warp drive he only hoped that he hadn't used too much time in talking to Swara.

-A-D-

Kairi looked around the courtroom nervously as she was back in it, the bracers from yesterday clamped around her wrists and preventing her use of magic. There was a definite lack of people with absurdly spiky chocolate hair sitting in the benches behind the table where she sat at with Peter. If everything had gone well, King Mickey had left the previous night with everyone and arrived in the morning soon after she had woken from her dream where she and Sora had actually conversed. But the _Highwind_ would still have to blast towards Radiant Garden at as much speed as it had to reach the world in time.

"Where are they?" she wondered aloud, her eyes taking in the lack of even Naminé in the crowd. She caught the black eyes of Asterix and he mouthed something that seemed like 'they'll be here', but she could see in his face that he was disturbed that they were taking as long as they were.

"They'll be here Kairi," Peter said, adding his own assurance to the princess's befuddled mind. "Sora's not going to leave you hanging on this."

Kairi sighed and looked at her hands as she wrung them around one another, trying to keep them warm even when the room itself was warm. She was feeling cold, even through her thicker and warmer clothes, the same she had worn the previous day. "I really hope not," she muttered.

"All rise for the Honourable Judge Ashley Baker." Kairi rose and watched as Judge Baker took her seat from yesterday and motioned and said for them all to be seated. She nodded at the court scribe and Kairi tuned her out as the second day began. Her heart was pounding as she remembered that she would be up on the stand in a minute to be questioned by Peter so that she could be cross-examined by him since he had decided against it the day before.

"Would the defendant please take the stand," Judge Baker said, riveting Kairi from her inner panic. Kairi rose and placed a slightly shaking hand to her chest as she went back up to the witness stand.

"Remember dear you are still under oath," the judge said as Kairi took her seat.

"I remember your honour," said Kairi sincerely, nodding at the judge. It was not likely that she would lie anyway, since she had no reason to.

Peter rose from where he was sitting at their table and looked at Kairi in the eyes. "Princess Kairi," he began hesitantly. "Yesterday you said that you were very angry at the time that Sora's arm was destroyed. Who were you angry at?"

"Maleficent," Kairi replied.

"And why were you angry at Maleficent?" Peter asked.

"There were, are, many reasons," Kairi replied, moving a bit of her hair out of her face to better look at Peter and the courtroom.

"Could you give us some please?"

Kairi took a deep breath before speaking. "For a start, it was under her orders that Cossex attacked and destroyed my home and killed my parents on the islands. She also had used Hades as a means to infect me with darkness and take control of my body, forcing me to hurt Sora and Menelmon."

"And when did this happen?" Peter asked. Kairi looked up slightly as she struggled to remember.

"Last Wednesday was when I was infected, but she didn't take control until that night," she said. "So, September-"

"Seventeenth," Peter supplied. "Ten days ago correct?"

Kairi nodded. "Yes."

"When did you regain control of your body from Maleficent?" Peter asked.

"Last Friday," Kairi answered, "the nineteenth."

"The day that you were attacked on Destiny Islands and you destroyed Sora's arm?" Peter asked.

"Yes."

"Menelmon said that you were trying to heal Sora's arm when it happened," Peter said, "were you?"

"I was," Kairi answered. "But it came out wrong because of my anger at Maleficent."

"Could you describe the battle for us?" Peter asked. Kairi shook her head.

"It's hard to describe a battle like the one we had in words," she said. "Memories would be a better way to tell the story, but Naminé isn't here so we can't do that right now."

"Please do your best," Peter said.

Kairi took another breath. "It started off between the four of us, Sora, myself, Ohtarmon, and Soronmon, against Hades and Cerberus, his guardian of the underworld. But very quickly he called more monsters to fight against us."

"What monsters were there?" Peter asked.

"There was Cerberus, and the Minotaur, the Chimera, and Talos."

"Talos?" Peter asked.

"A giant made of bronze," Kairi explained.

"Ah, please continue."

Kairi shook her head and her eyes lost focus, seeing the images in her mind. "We fought. We fought for a long time. The wind and rain soaked and froze us, except for Soronmon, and it got hard to see sometimes. It took ages, but we finally defeated all four of Hades' monsters and then we fought Hades himself before I used my light to cleanse him of the darkness Maleficent had placed in him." Kairi smiled slightly and looked off to the side. "Funny really, he's the first one we've beaten so far. There are still six more to go before we can take on Maleficent and win."

"After you defeated Hades," Peter continued, "what happened?"

"Maleficent decided to fight us then," Kairi answered. "She took up the sword of darkness Hades had been using and outdueled all of us with her power. She hurt Soronmon and Ohtarmon badly enough that they reverted back to Luinmon and Ninquemon, and then she used the darkness within the sword, the same darkness that she had used to take control of me, to attack me with."

"To attack you with?" Peter asked, doing very well to feign surprise.

"Yes," Kairi said. "But Sora got in its way right in front of me and it struck his arm, which turned black as it absorbed the darkness. We both looked at it in surprise before it suddenly swung around and began to choke me."

"Choke you?" Peter asked loudly. There were a great number of voices speaking behind the barrier now, and some of jurors were muttering to each other.

"We had to wrestle with Sora's arm for a little while before I was able to crawl over and pin him and his arm to the ground," Kairi continued. "By this point Cossex had jumped in and was barely keeping Maleficent off of us. And then I placed my hands above Sora's arm and tried to heal it."

Kairi's hands were clenched in fists and there were angry tears streaking down her face. She hadn't been able to stay looking at Peter for the last minute, her face pointed down and secluded as the memory swirled in her mind.

"No matter what Sora says it's going to be very hard to be able to forgive myself for what I did to him because of Maleficent!" Kairi exclaimed.

The courtroom was silent for a whole minute as Kairi sat in the witness stand, brooding. She wished that she hadn't blown up like that in front of everyone, and wanted Peter to go on to when she had tried to give herself up to Maleficent. She didn't want to talk about destroying Sora's arm anymore, she didn't want to have to talk about that memory anymore.

But when Sora and Naminé arrived, she knew that Peter would use Naminé to bring Sora's memory of that event to life for the eyes, ears, and experience of the entire courtroom. She didn't begrudge him for the decision he would surely make, just wished that it wouldn't be necessary.

"Kairi," Peter said, finally breaking the silence. "What was the deal you were striking with Maleficent when she came to Radiant Garden?"

"The deal was that she would get me to be her prisoner to do whatever she wished with in exchange for leaving the worlds alone and to not go past a boundary agreed upon by her and a coalition of good worlds, as well as sparing the lives of Sora, Roxas, Naminé, Riku, Asterix, King Mickey, and any of their friends and family."

"That was the deal?" Peter asked.

"That was the deal," Kairi said. "Maleficent didn't take it."

"And what did you intend to achieve through this?" Peter asked.

"Well," Kairi said, looking down slightly, "most of me just wanted this all to stop before it got too far out of hand, since I'd given up hope after Sora had lost the keyblade and we'd been thoroughly beaten by Maleficent. That part told me to save as many as I could."

"And the other part?" Peter inquired.

Kairi blushed slightly. "The other part of me wanted me to do it to practically give Sora a kick in the butt to start him up again. It wanted him to come and rescue me again, even though I hated being a damsel in distress after the last few times I've been one."

"Thank you Kairi," Peter said quietly. "I've put you through enough. No further questions."

"You may step down milady," Judge Baker said. Kairi nodded at her and went back down to the table where she sat at with Peter. As soon as she plopped into her seat Kairi laid her head down on the table and heaved a mighty sigh.

"Mr. Mahoney," Judge Baker continued, looking at him now. "Do you have another witness to present to this court?" Kairi opened her eyes slightly and glanced at the prosecution. She was surprised that he hadn't even raised a single objection while Peter was questioning her.

"No your honour," he replied. "The prosecution rests."

"Very well," Judge Baker said before looking at Peter. "Defence counsel, you may proceed."

"As you wish your honour," Peter said as he stood up again. He took a few paces towards the jury. "The prosecution has presented its case to you and we have heard what the defendant has to say on the matter. I shall not be bringing her up further. From my previous cross-examinations and this point onward I shall strive to prove to you that Princess Kairi never intended to harm the love of her life Keyblade Master Sora, and she also never committed an act of treason against Radiant Garden."

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury I present to you Exhibit A, the remainder of the taped conversation between the princess and her friends when she admitted to destroying Sora's arm." Kairi looked up at the recorder as it sat near her head and Peter pressed a button.

"I did it," he voice echoed back to her. The courthouse quieted again so that everybody could hear the voices coming from the player.

"You did it?" Riku's voice asked.

"Gawrsh Kairi," Goofy said sadly, "why did you do that? I thought you loved Sora."

"I do," Kairi said. "I did it because I love him, but... I didn't mean for it to happen that way."

"Huh?" Donald asked.

"Maleficent channelled the darkness in the sword she was using at the time into a bolt of lightning," Sora answered. "She fired it at Kairi, but I got in the way. It struck my arm, but instead of just hurting me, my arm absorbed the darkness."

"It, absorbed it?" King Mickey asked.

Sora's voice continued speaking, voice beginning to break as it appeared he went further into memory. "After that, I felt my arm in pain, but I couldn't move it. And then it moved on its own. I was no longer in control of my arm! And then it swung me around and latched around Kairi's throat."

"It was horrible," Kairi admitted. "You can't imagine how much anything solely of darkness hurts me when it strikes. It smothered my light and burned my neck. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't scream, all I could do was watch Sora's arm do that with tears in both of our eyes."

"If Ninquemon and Luinmon hadn't bounded into me and broken the arm's grip," Sora choked. "I don't know what would've happened to Kairi, and Maleficent was laughing the whole time."

"And then Cossex jumped in with her axes and started fighting Maleficent," Kairi said. "I crawled over to Sora as he was lying on the ground, pinning his arm beneath him, and tried to cast out the darkness in it. I had been able to cast Maleficent's shadow out of myself, so I thought that I could heal the arm and bring it back to the light." Kairi looked away from the player as her voice continued to speak. Hearing her own voice replayed so many times in a conversation she had believed was private was disturbing. Just how were they able to even get this conversation recorded?

"I started speaking in that strange tongue," she voice continued. "I think what I said was, _Kírië noraki umûl_. And then the light that was coming from my hands turned into something like a raging cannon, blasting and shredding the arm to pieces."

King Mickey's voice came back sharp. "Kairi, where did you learn Quintessence?"

"Quintessence?" she asked in a confused tone. "Is that the language I've been speaking and hearing Thessaura speak?"

"Thessaura!" King Mickey exclaimed. "You know about Thessaura?"

"Uh," Sora began. "I hate to be a drag here, but just what are guys talking about?"

"Beats me Sora," Riku and Goofy said simultaneously. The recording played a small bout of barely audible laughter from the two of them.

"Thessaura is one of the Gods of the Ancients," King Mickey explained. "They've been here since the beginning of time, before all other Gods and Goddesses. She is the Goddess of Light and Healing, and is the patron Goddess of all wielders of the keyblade. She constantly speaks to the virtue and morality within our hearts, guiding us on our path as wielders of the keyblade to protect the worlds against the forces of evil. Quintessence is the language of those Ancient Gods, and words in that language allow us to perform more powerful magic than we normally could. A single sentence or word uttered while casting can be very powerful."

"So I've been speaking in a language used by Gods?" Kairi asked in surprise.

"Yes," King Mickey answered. "But you have no idea what you're saying, now are you?"

"Not a clue." Kairi replied.

"Welp, the three words you just told me, _Kírië noraki umûl_, translated mean 'Light destroys darkness'. So that would explain why when you were trying to heal Sora's arm, you destroyed it instead."

"I guess that I'll be a little more careful when that language, Quintessence, comes out."

"It comes out through your heart Kairi," King Mickey explained. "You must have been exceptionally angry at Maleficent at the time."

Peter pressed stop on the player and looked directly at the jury, most of which were nodding and some of them were even half-smiling at Kairi.

"And now I present Exhibit B, the full conversation between Kairi and Maleficent before the battle in Radiant Garden commenced," Peter announced. The screens flickered to life for the second time in as many days and Kairi found her eyes drawn to them again.

"Why did you request this meeting between us, dear Kairi?" Maleficent asked coolly, giving Kairi her full attention as her tone became sharper. "And without any of your precious friends around to protect you? My, my, you are taking quite the risk aren't you?"

"I've called you here on my own initiative Maleficent. None of my friends know about this," Kairi's image on the screen said.

"Really?" Maleficent asked. "How... intriguing. I should have at least expected your lapdog Sora to be here. He always seems to be at your heels."

"Leave Sora out of this!" Kairi snapped angrily. "I don't want you talking about him that way." Maleficent smiled, but held her tongue.

"Very well, Princess," she said, nodding her head slightly. "We shall not discuss the keyblade master." Kairi sighed and dipped her head slightly, moving a hand to wipe a little of the rainwater from her face.

"I've asked you to be here," Kairi said, her voice threatening to crack on her, "to offer terms."

"Terms?" Maleficent asked slowly. "What sort of terms do you offer? Keep in mind, however, that I have already offered your pitiful King and sister _my_ terms, and they were rejected with hostility."

"These are my terms," Kairi began, her voice shaking slightly while it tried to make good on its threat. "That you leave the worlds alone, and do not step outside boundaries that shall be agreed upon by yourself and a coalition of good worlds, and that you spare the lives of Sora, Roxas, Naminé, Riku, Asterix, King Mickey, their kin and their friends."

"And in return?" Maleficent asked, a wicked smile forming on her lips as she noticed a gaping hole in Kairi's terms.

"In return," Kairi held, drawing it out as she glared at Maleficent. Maleficent's eyes flared suddenly, and Kairi wilted and turned her eyes away, falling back a couple steps towards the curb as a hand went to a suddenly wheezing chest. Maleficent quietly began to laugh and Kairi glanced away from the screen, remembering the pain of that sudden blow.

"You get me." Maleficent began to cackle loudly in laughter that rang in Kairi's ears for as long as it did when she had heard it in person. She held her hands to her ears to try and block out the sound. She didn't want to hear that wicked laughter anymore.

"That is quite the proposition, Radiant Princess of Radiant Garden," Maleficent said as her laughter subsided. "But, what would you have me do with you?"

"Imprison me, beat me, torture me, kill me even!" Kairi replied shrilly, her voice an octave too high. "I don't care, just don't hurt them again!"

"Kill you?" Maleficent asked delicately, a finger to her lips. She vanished abruptly, and for a moment the image showed Kairi looking around in trying to locate her while a few persons in the courtroom gasped at the witch's sudden disappearance. Kairi turned as Maleficent appeared behind her, and her mouth and eyes opened in terror as she looked into Maleficent's face.

"You will die a thousand deaths at my hands before I let you pass into the afterlife!" Maleficent roared down at Kairi. Her free hand shot out and grasped Kairi by the throat. The young princess was unable to gasp, unable to breathe as Maleficent's cold fingers were clenched around her neck. Her eyes were closed in agony, her throat trying to force any sound out. Kairi's hands desperately went to Maleficent's single hand, trying in vain to pry the witch's fingers off of her skin. Her hands, so desperately trying to make her free, began to hang onto Maleficent's arm instead as her feet no longer touched the ground, Maleficent raising her above the sorceress' horned head. Kairi began to slow, and her eyes began to dim.

Kairi couldn't bear to watch the next bit and so turned a sad eye away to the judge and jury, all of whom were looking at the recording in horror. Kairi's eyes flickered to the screen again out of curiosity just to see Maleficent fling her across the street in the rain into a streetlamp. She had struck it parallel to the post, which was why Kairi's hand withdrew to the top of her head as she felt the phantom pain of that again.

"You see, foolish Kairi," Maleficent said to the wheezing, pained princess of heart. "I currently have no place to put you, should I even choose to consider your offer." She began walking towards Kairi, her footsteps and the sound of her staff hitting the cobblestone road resounding through the horrified courtroom. Kairi began slowly scuttling backwards onto the curb, not meeting Maleficent's eyes but still watching her approach.

"And, I'm sure that you'd prefer the dungeons of any of my allies over mine," continued Maleficent, smiling at Kairi's retreat. "I, of course, cannot have that. So before I could even contemplate accepting, my new fortress must be complete. As it is, it is barely begun, and even with my _entire_ army working on it, I cannot expect sufficient completion for at least two months."

"But..." Kairi began breathlessly. Maleficent turned her question into a cry of pain with a simple strike of her staff against Kairi's side.

"Do not dictate terms to me, harlot!" Maleficent raged as several people gasped (Kairi thought she heard a few of them faint at the insult to their princess). "You ordered my presence. You demanded that I listen. I have listened, which is more that you deserve, but you forget..." A horrible black shadow began to emanate from around Maleficent, in the shape of a magnificent, evil dragon.

"I have the power here fool!" Maleficent said. "Your light has been strengthened by your crest, but do you think that pitiful words in Quintessence that you do not understand or driving my shadow out of your body mean that you are greater!?" Her hand shot out once more and grasped Kairi's throat again.

The people in the courtroom expected a scream, they expected a cry of anger or of pain, they expected anything and everything except for what Kairi had actually given Maleficent.

A whimper.

Maleficent threw Kairi up into the air and pointed the green ball of her staff at her airborne figure. A bolt of darkness crackled out and struck Kairi in the chest. The force of the strike sent Kairi careening towards the third floor of the brick building on the opposite side of the street. She cried in agony while in the air, and was breathless when her back crashed into the building. She twisted as she fell, and her back connected with both the street and the gutter of the curb, splashing into the water pooled on the ground.

Kairi turned herself onto her knees, coughing and spluttering. Her stomach emptied its entire contents into the rain-filled gutter.

Kairi looked away from the screen again for a moment and at her feet in embarrassment but then realized that she needn't be. Anyone who had not yet already fainted or thrown up from watching on the screen wouldn't begrudge her at all for losing her stomach after that. Well, anyone except perhaps Frederick Mahoney.

Speaking of which...

Kairi looked at the prosecutor, who was watching Kairi now being flung backwards to crash into the building's side again with a calm detachment as if it were only mildly interesting and would be better if he had a bowl of popcorn with him.

"I reject your terms utterly Kairi," Maleficent continued. "But because you so graciously offered yourself to me, I shall take your life now."

Kairi felt as if several people's hearts upstairs had just stopped from the way the thuds on the wood above her sounded.

Kairi crumbled onto her knees, still trying to take in breath.

"This will not be quick, bright Kairi," Maleficent purred. "It will be agonizingly slow and painful. I want to savour this moment, so you might as well fight back." Maleficent flicked her staff to Kairi's left, and the poor girl was flung that way next, her shoulder blades the first part of her to connect with the wall of another corner building, her neck and head hanging out in the air while the rest of her body was pinned. Maleficent waved her staff again, and Kairi soared in the opposite direction, halting just shy of the other building only for Maleficent to alter the direction and slam the princess face-first into the road.

Maleficent calmly came to Kairi's prone form on the ground with a cruel smile on her face, and with one finger she undid the clasp that kept the girl's cloak on. The wind picked up, and the cloak was blown off of Kairi just as another bolt of lightning arched through the sky. Kairi's prone form stiffened as the biting wind and rain now assaulted her vulnerable body. Maleficent looked down at her with disdain.

There was a flash of light and Maleficent flew backwards on a cloud of darkness that formed at her feet. Kairi was on one knee now, her face set into one of grim determination. The Oathkeeper was in her right hand after she slashed at what was now empty space, its white blade matching the white clothes she wore, despite the blood that ran down her neck and knees and mixed with the rain water.

Maleficent smiled widely. "Yes Kairi," she said enthusiastically as her staff glowed with greater intensity. "Come and die."

With shuddering hands, Peter stopped the recording. He looked up at Judge Baker, who did not move her eyes away from the now black screen for thirty seconds before she looked directly at Kairi instead of her defence counsel.

"How did you _survive_?" she asked in amazement and horror. "Any normal person should be dead if that continued."

"All the more reason why we should not by prosecuting her, your honour," Peter answered for Kairi. "Who are we to hold her accountable for actions on a field of battle that we cannot even begin to comprehend with powers flowing between the combatants beyond our imaginations."

"I am going to tell you a little about myself now," Peter said, addressing the jury. "I was not always known as Peter Banning. No. For many, many years, I was known as Peter Pan. Never-Neverland was my home, and in Never-Neverland, children never grow up. I led the Lost Boys, a group of boys that like myself had left our homes and parents at early ages because we did not want to grow up and get old, because when you get old eventually you die. We fought Captain James Hook and his pirate crew for as more years than I can count. Eventually, I met a girl in London named Wendy, and listened to the stories that she would tell of me and Neverland to her younger brothers. We became friends."

"And then Maleficent and the heartless came," Peter continued, "and everything changed. Wendy was captured and my friend Tinkerbell and I-"

"Objection your honour," Frederick said suddenly, "relevance."

"I do have a point your honour," Peter countered quickly.

"Overruled," Judge Baker said, glaring at the prosecution. "Proceed counsellor." Peter nodded at her while Frederick snarled. Kairi glanced between Fred and the judge and something clicked in her mind. The judge must have seen how detached and unfeeling he was towards Maleficent's actions and words towards her; perhaps he'd fallen out of any favour she'd had for him.

"Tink and I had to rescue Wendy from Cpt. Hook and Riku," Peter continued, "who was working with Maleficent at the time. And I got captured myself and locked in the brig. Then Donald and Goofy were put in the brig with me, and then Sora fell on top of them. All he could talk about was that he'd finally found Kairi. He was so happy even to have just seen her. Then Tink got jealous of the attention I'd been paying to Wendy instead of her and she refused to free us, forcing Sora to do the honours. I wasn't that friendly to him at the time, all I wanted was to get Wendy out of there. But as we fought through the heartless on Hook's ship to free Wendy and Kairi, we became friends and I was able to see just how much Kairi meant to Sora, even more than what Wendy meant to me. After I left Neverland and regained my memories of that time, I see now that it would be impossible for someone to want to throw away a love like that."

Peter paused for a moment as if listening to something before he opened his mouth and loudly spoke, "I would now like to call Keyblade Master Sora and Princess Naminé Talerith to the stand together."

The courtroom doors opened with a loud bang and Kairi wheeled her head around with eyes that now shone with hope and excitement. Standing in the doorway Sora and Naminé stood in the forefront of the small gang of wielders of the keyblade with Donald, Goofy, Max, and Tom behind them like an honour guard.

"We accept," Sora and Naminé simultaneously said. Kairi glanced at Frederick Mahoney as her boyfriend and sister both began walking towards her. His calm exterior had for one instant dissolved into one of panic before returning to its deadpan expression. She returned her gaze to Sora and smiled, seeing him now smiling widely at her.

"Sorry I'm late Kai," Sora was saying as they approached the barrier so that he and Naminé could go to the witness stand. "But I had to-" Sora froze in his spot and his eyes widened considerably as he looked at Kairi. The princess brought a hand up slightly to feel a bruise that was one of several that Sora's eyes were probably fixed upon.

"Who did this to you?" Sora asked in a low key, a keyblade appearing in his right hand. Kairi's insides smiled as she looked at Sora's new weapon. It looked perfectly capable of defeating anything in Sora's hands.

"Master Sora you may not speak to the defendant," Judge Baker said, through she eyed both the keyblade and Kairi with interest. Sora nodded and proceeded through the barrier with Naminé as the bailiff opened it. She could see that he was barely able to suppress his rage at seeing Kairi hurt like that when he was gone.

Kairi lightly brushed Sora's leather jacket that concealed his automail arm from the eyes of the worlds and he looked at her, his keyblade vanishing from his right hand's grasp. Their eyes met and Kairi nodded her head in the direction behind him. He glanced at Mahoney before returning his eyes to Kairi, the cerulean within them asking for confirmation. Kairi nodded slightly.

"Sora please take the stand with Naminé," Peter said, coming up beside him. Sora nodded wordlessly and went up to sit next to Naminé, the two of them together making it slightly uncomfortable in the stand's cramped conditions.

The bailiff swore them in and Peter came up to the stand to look at both Sora and Naminé. "Could both of you describe your relationship to the defendant, Kairi Talerith?"

"I'm dating her," Sora said, "though I still haven't actually asked Kairi out on a date yet." He scratched his head with a confused look on his face. And Naminé and Kairi both smiled at him and shook their heads.

"And I used to be Kairi's nobody," Naminé answered, "but now I'm her twin sister."

"You were her nobody?" Peter asked.

"Yes," Naminé answered. "Just as Sir Roxas was Sora's nobody."

"And how did you come to exist?" Peter asked. Naminé looked at him in confusion for a second.

"In which sense of the word?" she asked. "I ask because nobodies are made of nothingness. So even though we can see and feel and be hurt by or befriend them, they don't exist."

"I'll rephrase," Peter conceded. "How did you come into being?"

"Through Sora and Kairi," Naminé answered.

"Could you elaborate for us please?"

"Sure," Naminé said, nodding her head quickly. "When Destiny Islands had its heart taken by the heartless, Kairi lost her heart, but because she's a princess of heart, her heart had no darkness in it to form a heartless. And since there was no heartless created, no nobody could be formed out of the body and soul left behind, so Kairi appeared as just an empty shell when Riku and Maleficent found her."

"So where did Kairi's heart go if it didn't create a heartless?" Peter asked.

Sora smiled and placed his right hand over his chest. "It went into my heart to be protected from the darkness."

Many people who heard that gave a collective sigh and a few even cooed 'aw'.

"So Sora was adventuring with Donald and Goofy with Kairi's heart inside of him the whole time," Peter said.

"Yep!" Sora replied, beaming at Kairi.

"Naminé you said that no nobody could be formed because there was no heartless," Peter asked, "so how are you here?"

"Because of Sora," Naminé said. "After Sora duelled and defeated Riku in the castle down in Villain's Vale at the keyhole to darkness that had been created, he took the keyblade of captive hearts created by the hearts of the other six princesses of heart and stabbed himself in the heart with it."

"You did what?" Peter asked.

"I stabbed myself in the heart to unlock Kairi's heart," Sora explained. "Kairi's heart came out of mine, but it also caused my heart to fall into darkness."

Kairi looked down and away from Sora, a tear in her left eye. She remembered waking up to see Sora falling before he vanished in her arms after she called his name.

"What happened when your heart fell?" Peter asked.

"I became a heartless," Sora explained. "And because I had lost my body and soul, and there had been two hearts within it, two nobodies were created out of my body and soul. Roxas and Naminé. However, my heartless found Kairi, Donald, and Goofy, and Kairi's love and desire to protect me when more heartless attacked them caused the light in her heart to give me back my body and soul. So I fell into the darkness to give Kairi back her heart, and she brought me back to the light through her heart."

"Sounds romantic," Peter mused.

Sora blushed. "When you talk about it, yes, when you experience it, no. You're more surprised, relieved and grateful than anything."

"But you did hug her when she brought you back," Naminé said. Sora's blush only increased.

"That was before hugging Kairi became awkward," he replied.

"So that was how you and Roxas were created," Peter said, "through the love two young adolescents had for one another."

Sora's face now resembled a tomato and Kairi's cheeks had suddenly turned pink. Peter glanced behind him as Riku, Prince Alain, and Aladdin sniggered slightly.

"So in your mind Naminé," Peter continued. "Would there be any logical reason that Kairi would have to intentionally cause harm Sora?"

"No," said Naminé.

"Thank you Princess Naminé," Peter said, dipping his head towards her. He then looked at Sora. "Sora," he began, "you were present when Kairi destroyed your arm?"

Sora smiled bemusedly. "Why would you even bother to ask me that question?" He pulled back the wrist section of the brown glove on his left hand and revealed to Peter part of the wrist section of his automail.

Peter nodded in interest and looked back up at Sora. "And you remember the incident?"

"Losing an arm is not something you forget quickly," Sora replied. "Yes I remember it vividly."

"And Naminé," Peter said quickly, pointing a finger at her. "_You_ once made everyone forget all about Sora correct?"

"Everyone except Kairi," Naminé said ashamedly. "She could only remember Sora as the boy she couldn't remember. To anyone else, he never existed."

"Could you show us all Sora's memory of the battle and the loss of his arm?" Peter asked. A good number of gasps came from the people within the courtroom, including a couple of the jurors. Kairi and Sora locked eyes with each other.

_Naminé this will prove it!_ Kairi thought instantly.

"Objection your honour!" Frederick said quickly, "a memory is not valid evidence! Memories can be tampered with, especially when dealing with a memory witch like her!"

"I vowed never to fiddle with Sora's memories again!" Naminé retorted.

"Yeah," Axel said from the crowd. "I got her onto the good side."

"Who just said that?" the court scribe asked, his voice a surprisingly rather strong baritone.

"Yo typewriter dude," Axel called, "the name's Axel. That's A-X-E-L, got it memorized? And I'm free all next week unless King Mickey wants me to do anything for him," he added, looking around at any woman that looked to be around twenty and single in a hopeful and rather proud manner.

Judge Baker's gavel banged onto its stand with a crack that silenced everyone. "Objection overruled Mr. Mahoney, I'll allow it." She turned her eyes upon Naminé, who gulped. "I'll allow it, if the princess swears again that she will not tamper with Sora's memory of the incident."

"I swear I won't touch it," Naminé said. "All I will do will be to give the memory in its entirety to everyone within this courtroom, and then to erase it from their minds after the trial is concluded."

"Why would you erase it from our minds?" Peter asked.

"This is Sora's memory," Naminé answered. "Ever since Roxas and I became whole, Sora and Kairi have had a measure of privacy as they can now keep their thoughts private if they want, when before they couldn't. Roxas and I are still able to enter their thoughts and memories if we try hard enough, but Sora and Kairi trust us to not do that. It would dishonour both of us if we broke that trust. To not leave that memory private to Sora would be the worst thing I could do." She turned and looked at him.

"Do you have my permission to share it with everyone?" Naminé asked. Sora shifted his gaze away from Kairi and moved slightly in the stand.

"It's going to take a lot of energy Naminé," he said. "A lot of energy."

"I know," Naminé answered.

"There was something I learned back in the digital world," Sora continued, "That if you try using magic beyond the bounds of your energy, you will die. I don't want you to die just to prove that Kairi's innocent." He stopped and frowned. "I didn't even press charges against her anyway! Who the heck called for this damned trial in the first place?!"

"Sora calm down," Naminé said, grasping his shoulder. "I'll be able to do this, that's what this is for," she tapped the stone in the thin silver circlet upon her brow, "trust me." Sora was silent and grumbled in his throat for a second.

"I trust you and you have my permission," he said, closing his eyes. "Do it."

-A-D-

A fireball crackled as it blazed through the air towards Sora as he hugged Kairi only moments after sharing the star-shaped paopu fruit with her. His eyes widened slightly as it approached, only to be blocked by Ohtarmon's mace when the Champion-level digimon moved to stand in front of them.

"Right," Sora said. "Battle, right…"

"Yeah…" Kairi added, her tone indicating that she'd just remembered as well, "right. Hades, yes." She turned her head and looked at Menelmon. "You ready for this Menelmon?"

"Let me at him," the female digimon replied. "I'll teach him to hurt my partner! Menelmon digivolved to, Soronmon!"

"Well," Hades began saying, looking at the ferocious foursome, "much though I'd like to stay and fight you alone, I have a friend who'd love to meet three of you and say hello to his old buddy." The ground started rumbling, and cracks began appearing in the earth just off of the islet where they stood. The catwalk collapsed and the whole islands shook as a guttural roar of a dog ripped through the howling air. The sky flashed with lightning and rain started to fall. Fires roared into existence from beneath the cracking stone, and the ground abruptly exploded, the dog's howl tearing through the storm once more, and yet it sounded now like it was more than one dog. Through the cloud of dust, shattered rocks, and rain that fell through the sky, and in the light of the fires that raged around it, Sora was able to discern the recognizable shape of a beast of the Underworld that he had fought several times with Donald, Goofy, and Auron. Its black fur shone with the beads of the rain and its massive muscles rippled. The six red eyes of its three heads located Sora and its jaws snapped, recognizing him in anger.

Hades had summoned forth Cerberus, his Guardian of the Underworld.

"Oh great," Sora muttered, his grip on Oblivion tightening. "Why do I have to take on the puppy again? First it was after I lost to Cloud in the first games we were in, then in the first Hades Cup, then when we were escaping the Underworld with Auron, and then in the Cerberus Cup." He shook his head to rid it of some of the rain while the six eyes of Cerberus glared at him. "Hades, why won't you just admit that Cerberus can't beat us?"

"Because this time you little keybrat, Cerberus isn't alone," Hades said, grinning at them as a grizzly and demonic black chariot appeared, being drawn by a pair of black and scary-looking horses.

"What?" Kairi asked, looking at Sora quizzically. Sora saw her glance but shook his head in reply.

"I don't see anything else," Ohtarmon said, holding his mace readily. Sora glanced at his digimon partner but drew his eyes back to Cerberus when he saw a flash of fire erupt from the left head.

"Incoming fireball," he warned, dashing away from the middle of the islet. Kairi raced after him as he and Ohtarmon leapt off of the islet and into the shallow water as it stirred violently in the assaulting wind.

"Let the show begin!" Hades roared from within his chariot as it flew in the skies above them. Sora looked up and saw Soronmon begin to fly after him, but a brilliant flame blazed into her path and she was forced to swerve away. Sora drew his eyes away from her and rolled to his right as he caught sight of one of Cerberus' heads lunging for him, each one of its sharp teeth as long as his arm. He saw Kairi summon Oathkeeper into her hands as he came up from his roll, and Ohtarmon waved Cerberus' middle head away from him with his spiked mace. The Guardian of the Underworld appeared to not want to get close to the six and a half foot digital monster.

Sora tensed his legs and jumped into the air towards Cerberus' left head (the one on the right side that faced him). Yelling loudly, Sora made the Oblivion cut upwards against the cheek of the beast, and his keyblade against the black hide of the three-headed dog's head. Sora landed on the top of the head and examined his handiwork with a harried glance, unable to spot if there was any damage done to the beast's powerful facial muscles before Cerberus roared and began twisting its heads in an attempt to throw him off.

"Sora!" Ohtarmon called as the keyblade master released the Oblivion to grab hold of the ears on his head. Sora looked down at Ohtarmon and Kairi as she stood beside him when he was able to, and his eyes widened slightly.

"Behind you!" he yelled, quickly letting go of Cerberus' head and using the momentum of the last shove of the head to propel himself towards his partners. The Oblivion returned to his hand just as Ohtarmon and Kairi turned around. Sora landed hard on the ground and rolled in front of Ohtarmon, his onyx keyblade coming up as quickly as he was able to bring it up to defend against a very large axe blade that was sweeping for Ohtarmon's legs.

Its wielder snorted, a golden ring in its great nose flapping from the burst of putrid air that stormed out overtop of a chest covered in horrendous coarse black hair. Sora's arms strained for a second, and then the Minotaur's axe's force pushed him to the side and drove him into the sand. But he had bought Ohtarmon enough time to ready his mace against this new opponent.

"Deciding Swing!" the digimon yelled, swinging his weapon towards the Minotaur with a heavy of his powerful biceps. Grunting, the Minotaur brought the flat of its black axe up to defend against the mace, not being perturbed in the slightest by the strength of the attack or the blast and explosion of white light from the inherent magic of the attack.

"You and me ugly," Ohtarmon growled, taking a heavy step into the soft sand towards the mythical beast with his yellow clawed feet. The Minotaur reared its head as it stood in equal height to the digimon and bellowed a loud and wailing challenge that Sora strained to put out of his mind. Kairi's hands were currently full in trying to avoid Cerberus in his three heads as the dog now seemed to be concentrating on her, the one it had decided to be the most annoying of the three since it clearly wouldn't be the most dangerous.

Sora pushed his wet hair out of his face and dashed towards Kairi, the Oblivion already crackling with a thousand volts of electricity that circled its black steel with a vivid white-blue glow. "Thundaga!"

Cerberus turned all three of its snarling, snapping heads towards him as he yelled and unleashed the spell, and the dog whimpered as the lightning stung and stuck into its three necks. It backed up two paces, its mighty legs shifting the pile of rock that was blocking the waterfall, shaking its heads as the electricity numbed it.

"Thanks," Kairi said with the faintest and quickest of smiles before she looked at the three-headed dog again. "So how do we beat him if you've fought him so many times?" Sora stood right next to her and glared at Cerberus, his keyblade held in tightly at his right side.

"We hit him," he answered.

"What?" Kairi asked, glancing at Sora for clarification.

"We hit him, and hit him, and keep hitting him until he's gotten the message that he's been a very bad dog," said Sora. Kairi nodded and looked up towards Cerberus as Sora glanced at her quickly. He frowned as her eyes widened.

"Look out!" she yelled, rushing at him and roughly grabbing him. She dove with both of them towards the slight safety of the little rock wall at the beach's edge and they landed behind it just as a massive piece of wood speared the sand only a few metres behind where they had both stood. The ground shuddered as the wet wood dug into the ground and splashed the raging waters all around it.

"What the heck threw that?" Ohtarmon asked loudly, both his and the Minotaur's legs buckling somewhat from the impact. Sora looked at Kairi and she breathlessly inclined her head towards the area above where Cerberus now stood, growling and not understanding why he could smell the keyblade wielders but couldn't see them.

"Big bronze man," she said. "He ripped it right off from the big tree. Looked like Talos from the myths."

"That's all we need," Sora groaned. "A big bronze guy trying to flatten us."

"I think I also saw a sword."

Sora felt the ground shake again slightly and his ears picked up the sound of metal crunching onto the ground. "I stand corrected, a big bronze guy trying to flatten us, _and_ cut us into pieces." Kairi shook her head only slightly and huffed at his cynical tone, but she didn't say anything as if agreeing with him. Sora snatched Oblivion from the ground where it lay and leapt over the top of the seawall to stand face to face with six crimson eyes and more teeth than he could count.

"Bad doggie," he said, bopping the nose of the middle head with the middle of his keyblade. Cerberus' three heads all reared back up as the middle one looked at and adjusted its nose, the other two heads looking at the middle one in concern. Sora glanced to his left and saw just what Kairi described, a large man made of bronze, probably eight and a half or nine feet tall, with a bronze plumed helmet of black horsehair and a long, thick sword also of bronze construction in his right hand with a thick buckler in the left as its companion. Sora could just see something that resembled a bulging vein running from his neck to his ankle, being sealed shut with a bronze nail. He would have wondered more about it, had Talos not seen him and swung his massive sword at Sora.

Sora quickly raised his keyblade to block the blow and felt himself getting pushed back through the ground a foot as the two blades connected. Kairi circled around him and came up the cracked and broken stone steps to jump into the air on his right to attack Cerberus' heads. Sora only watched her with his peripheral vision as he stayed focused on Talos, who had brought his sword back and was now sending it down straight for Sora's head.

"Reflega!" Sora roared, the magical shield forming a dome around him. Talos' sword smote his barrier with a sharp ring and sparks flashed as it grated against the magical defence. Sora winced. The colossus was strong.

"Feel the pain," Talos bellowed in an echoing, metallic voice, "as I rain blows on your brain!"

_Lovely,_ Sora thought darkly, _he rhymes too_.

"How 'bout you feel this pain?" Kairi yelled, using one of Cerberus' snouts as a springboard to dive straight for Talos. The bronze man turned his head towards he just as the Oathkeeper slammed into his helmet. Sora let his reflega shield disappear into balls of blue energy that streamed towards Talos. He recoiled as they struck, howling in agony and backing up against the trunk of the great tree that a catwalk had once been built upon.

"Thanks Kairi!" Sora called as the female wielder of the keyblade landed on the ground in a crouch with her white keyblade pointed back behind her. Kairi rose and turned towards him, her hair and clothes plastered to her body with the amount of rain that had been falling.

"You owe me!" she yelled over the wind. Sora laughed and dropped flat to the ground as one of Cerberus' heads came diving straight for his midsection. Sora rolled away from underneath the head and whacked its side with the Oblivion. Cerberus didn't seem to notice as Sora scrambled to his feet. He saw movement out of the left corner of his eye and his head quickly flickered in that direction, but he couldn't react in time to keep the dog's right head from slamming him into a hold between the two heads. His feet no longer touched the ground as Sora wheezed, his supply of air having been squeezed out of his lungs. The middle head reared up in front of him, its jaws opened wide for the bite that would render him into two separate pieces.

Sora shoved the Oblivion into its mouth as the jaws slammed shut, the keyblade keeping the mouth open and unable to close upon him. The pressure lessened slightly in the beast's surprise and Sora clambered out of the grasp of the other two heads and up on top of the middle one as it tried to snap his keyblade in two without further injuring itself. The keyblade reappeared in Sora's hand and the middle head's jaw snapped shut in what sounded like a painful bite down on nothing. The other two heads turned towards Sora and he flew high into the air just a second before they slammed into each other, each head having tried to crush him. The wind blew around Sora as he floated above Cerberus and he quickly wiped his hair out of his eyes.

Raw white energy began to glow from around the Oblivion and Sora swung it in the air twice in an 'X' directed towards Cerberus. From the Oblivion's blade the 'X' formed in the air and sped straight for the Underworld's Guard Dog. Cerberus' powerful legs lost their grip and slid out from underneath the dog as the attack slammed into its shoulders at the base of all three necks. The island quaked as Cerberus lay flattened, and one of its massive paws had stretched out and smacked Kairi away from where she was struggling with Talos and into the rolling waves.

Sora yelled her name and was about to fly to where she had been sent head-first into the ocean, when he felt himself being snatched out of the air by a pair of large claws and a large amount of heat flaring against his legs.

"Watch out Keys," Soronmon said, having grabbed him from the air. "You almost got roasted!"

"By what?" Sora asked, looking back in the direction the flare had come from. Down on the beach below him he saw another monster with one paw overtop of what had used to be the catwalk that reached the islet with the paopu tree. Its body was that of a great lion, with the head and mane of one directly in its front. Its tail was serpentine and a dragon's head bared its fangs and hissed at Sora from the tail's end. Directly in-between these two heads was the neck and head of a goat, smoke coming out of its snorting nostrils.

"The Chimera," Sora remarked in a groan. "As if this beach wasn't crowded enough with just Cerberus, we need another giant monster taking up room." Sora felt his stomach suffer as Soronmon dived suddenly, ducking underneath another jagged spear of wood that Talos had ripped out of the massive tree and thrown at them. Soronmon shrieked and reared her head at Talos as her mane of ice-white feathers ruffled in the wind that whistled through Sora's ears.

"Blizzard's Bite!" she yelled, snapping her neck down towards the bronze man. A blast of chilling white in the shape of Soronmon's head streaked down towards Talos, the image of Soronmon's sharp beak prominent as the rain that fell froze instantly as her attack passed through the air. Talos raised his bronze shield and Sora watched ice and frost form all over it as Soronmon's attack struck the shield and pushed the man of bronze back several feet.

"Put me down!" Sora yelled. Soronmon nodded and flew towards the beach, where Kairi was just fumbling out of the water, and promptly released Sora form him to land without grace in the surf just next to her. Spitting out half a mouthful of water and wet sand, Sora emerged facing Kairi as she laughed at him.

"Not funny Kai," he said, making fake gagging noises as he spat as much sand off of his tongue as was possible. A large axe blade being held back by an equally massive mace slammed into the sand just a few feet away from him, pelting both keyblade wielders with more water and sand.

"I could use a little help with fuzzy here," Ohtarmon said, lifting his mace up and parrying the axe as the Minotaur swung it for his armoured midsection.

"No problem," Kairi said, levitating the Oathkeeper in front of her and making it spin. "Gaira!" The sand around her rose from the beach into a column that stretched in front of her keyblade before being forcefully directed towards the Minotaur's muscled and hair chest. The beast moaned as the sand's constant pressure forced it back into a line with Talos, Cerberus, and the Chimera.

Sora, Kairi, Ohtarmon, and Soronmon formed a similar line against them, looking at the four monsters that they faced with anxiety. Both humans were dwarfed in size by all of the monsters, while Ohtarmon was the equal of their smallest opponent, the Minotaur. Soronmon was close to the size of the Chimera with her wings extended to their full length, and her brethren Cerberus was larger than all the others.

The four monsters leered at the two digital monsters and their partners, who glared apprehensively back. Ohtarmon and Soronmon were already panting from exhaustion just from being in their Champion forms for as long as they had. They were not gaining energy from the world around them, this wasn't their world.

A wave splashed against the back of Sora's legs and he took a fumbling step forward. He shivered and glanced at Kairi from underneath his soaked bangs and noticed her stumbling from the suddenness of the wave as well. Her indigo eyes caught his and she glanced back towards the four monsters in front of them. Sora watched as a bolt of lightning flashed in the dark clouds behind her, lighting Kairi up in a sudden light as she dipped her head in a sigh.

She looked back at him, and Sora saw her eyes and face brimming with determination just as thunder rolled through his ears. He nodded at her and she nodded back. Not giving her a second glance, Sora looked back towards Cerberus, now barking at him.

"These are _our_ islands," he growled, his legs already beginning to carry him in a slow gait towards the four monsters. "Let's send them back to Underworld where they came from!" He picked up speed quickly and he leapt straight for Cerberus' middle head, his eyes boring into the red ones of Hades' guard dog. The head to his left snapped out towards him and Sora felt its teeth tear through the leather of his jacket and graze his left arm, ripping off bits of his skin as their rough edges passed over him. All Sora did was give a quick and sharp exclamation of pain while he continued forward past the offending head towards the centre one. The head barked and lunged for him, but Sora swung his keyblade down and slapped the snout with enough strength to push the head beneath his airborne feet for him to land right between the ears. He flattened himself down on the crown of Cerberus' middle head and slapped his keyblade against the side of the central neck while tightly gripping the right ear in his left hand. He climbed back up onto the head and repeatedly jumped between the three heads of the dog, swinging his black keyblade at the different necks and faces he went up against as they continually barked and snapped at him, occasionally nicking him in the leg or side while the Oblivion thudded against Cerberus' skin.

Cerberus' left head lunged for him and Sora slid off of the central head and onto the neck, the slick black fur feeling like knives as it ran against the side of his left arm. He twisted around and slapped his keyblade against the neck of the head that had just lunged for him and then dropped onto the ground as the other head lunged for him, the Oblivion grating against the neck for a second before reaching windy air filled with rain momentarily before being rammed against Cerberus' knee.

Sora collapsed onto the ground and tried to block the sound out of his ears as the dog howled in pain in stereo. He had just slashed at the creature's knee and struck hard against the bone. Sora yelped in pain as tongues of fire licked and burned his right arm and he instinctively put a shield around himself, the fire now splitting around his defence. Sora forced his jacket off while in the protection of his barrier and struggled not to assess the damage done to both of his arms while his eyes sought the goat head of the Chimera, glowering at him as fire spewed without pause towards his shield.

_This won't hold forever_, Sora thought putting more of his concentration into maintaining the spell as the fire kept coming at him. Cerberus' left head streaked towards him and bit at the shield, its teeth grinding against the honeycomb pattern that defined the shell.

"Feathered Mace!"

"Polar Chill!"

The Chimera's goat head ceased in its constant fire-breath as watermelon-sized icicles and a barrage of razor-sharp feathers assailed it. Sora let his shield collapse into the blue balls of magical energy and sent them towards Cerberus. The dog reared up, waving his paws in the air and batting the energy away, yelping every time its paws were able to connect with the blue storm. Cerberus came back down to the ground, the dog's massive weight causing Sora's knees to buckle from the shockwave it sent through the ground. Sora ran away from the spawn of Typhon and Echidna as Ohtarmon stepped up to challenge Cerberus and toward Ohtarmon's previous opponent of the Minotaur, the size of the axe it wielded giving Sora slight hesitation in his decision to go toe-to-toe with the beast, especially since both of his arms now hurt. He quickly grabbed some of his heavy, water-soaked hair and shoved it to the side of his head.

The Minotaur bellowed at the keyblade master and swung its axe in a horizontal cut towards Sora's neck. Sora was lucky he'd moved his hair, or he'd have never seen it in time to duck underneath the large axe-blade. As it was, the axe came fast enough that he was still sure that at least a small amount of hair off the top of his head had been cut without his consent. But despite its power, the Minotaur was a slow, lumbering beast, and after Sora had ducked underneath the attack he had the advantage. Sora stayed crouched and ran towards the Minotaur's front, slashing across its chest with his keyblade. He ran past the Minotaur's left side as he finished his slice while the beast gave a guttural roar of pain.

Sora panted and turned around to look at the Minotaur's back, blinking raindrops out of his eyes. It didn't matter which way he faced, the wind blew the rain and sea-spray in every direction with the sole intent on forcing it into his cerulean eyes. The bigger creature turned around and faced Sora, clouds of steam being snorted angrily out of its nostrils as a trickle of dark red liquid seeped out of the wound to its chest Sora had given it.

Bawling in anger at Sora, the Minotaur rushed towards him on stomping feet, preparing its axe to swing it down onto the boy's shoulders. Sora was a step ahead of it, being able to think somewhat clearly even through the throbbing pain in both of his arms, and jumped just above the Minotaur's horns to come up behind it.

He twisted and curled as he went through his jump so that he would stay facing the Minotaur the entire time, and raised his keyblade towards the hairy beast. "Firaga!" A trio of fireballs spiralled out of the Oblivion's tip towards the Minotaur's back, burning the beast and forcing another howl of pain, rage, and surprise from it as it felt the sensation of its back being on fire. The creature ran for the ocean, its axe almost slipping from its grasp as it momentarily forgot about the battle. Sora stared at it as it ran and glanced at his keyblade. He twirled it in his fingers for a second before looking at the Minotaur.

"Strike Raid!" he yelled, tossing the black steel of the Oblivion at the Minotaur's blazing back. The beast still continued to run after the water in the ocean as the seas receded from it, denying the creature the moisture it craved to put out the fire that the rain alone could not quench. Its howl only grew louder when the spinning Oblivion struck into it between the shoulder blades, its black tip gouging its way in deep.

The wind was knocked out of Sora as something heavy flew into him and knocked him back down onto the sand. His eyes strained for a moment in the state of less than normal light caused by the dark clouds before he realized he was looking into someone's eyes.

"Kairi?" he asked.

"Who else?" she returned in what was partially between a moan and an aggrieved grumble. "Would you min-" she stopped, noticing that Sora's eyes were no longer on her; instead they had grown wide in fear.

Sora had just realized as Kairi lay atop of him that when he had thrown his keyblade at the Minotaur that the shore had been receding. That was never good, and he knew it the moment he looked back to the ocean. For one thing, the Minotaur had vanished and the Oblivion was sitting limply on the sandy beach, secondly, there was a fifty-foot wave heading straight for them.

A fifty-foot wave of ocean water, salt water!

Sora tightly bound his arms around Kairi and jammed his eyes shut, exposing both of his arms to the rain that already stung on the wounds he'd been given. He was unsure right now if Kairi had received any injuries, but he at least wanted to have his arms around something before the wave hit.

_This is gonna hurt._

Kairi had apparently also noticed the wave, for she dug her arms into the sand underneath Sora's shoulders and tightly bound her arms together behind his back. The wave struck the ground and they felt it the instant before both of them were swept up in its power. Sora bit back a yell of pain, only a slight gasp slipping out. The bites on his arm and side burned as the salt water cascaded over him and Kairi, and he couldn't help wringing himself closer to Kairi as she did as well, the girl giving a cry of pain. So she was wounded too...

Sora's held breath was knocked out of him as the current pounded them against the seawall, his shoulder blades taking the brunt of the blow. The next instant the water's force swept them above the seawall and tossed them against one of Cerberus' legs for a second, Kairi taking the blow this time, most of her air escaping as her back struck against the black fur of Hades' guard dog. The wave's force continued, tumbling the two keyblade wielders against the ground until they broke into the tunnel that led to the Secret Place.

But none of it mattered for Sora, he had no reserve oxygen in his system anymore. He needed to breathe, and he and Kairi were still stuck underneath at least several feet of water. It was almost like the ocean itself was trying to flood the small play island. Sora's eyes opened and he looked at Kairi as her arms were wound around him. Her chest was heaving much like his as she strained to keep the urge to breathe in something that was not air at bay. As he watched her, Sora shook his head, she was either becoming blurry, or the world was fading. Sora opened his mouth, hoping beyond hope that the water that was passing over his tongue was air, and took a breath.

His eyes flew open wide when he found his vision beginning to clear as Kairi came back into focus.

Sora exhaled the water, realizing that his body had simply taken it in and extracted the oxygen from within it. He could breathe underwater?

The answer hit him like the wave had done and Sora laughed. His spell was still working. The spell he had cast on everybody so that they could breathe underwater in order to play the blitz game in the Digital World was still working.

"Kairi, we can breathe," Sora said. Kairi's eyes opened and her chest flattened; a cloud of bubbled flew from her mouth. She drew in the water in like a parched animal, sucking the liquid that contained the air she needed to survive with all of her concentration.

"Thank Poseidon for that blitzball game," she said, unwrapping her arms from around Sora as they still lay at the base of the tunnel into the secret place, the water's level feet above their heads. She winced as the current flowed a little fiercer against them, pushing the both of them further down the tunnel, its size much greater than it had been just a year ago.

Sora looked off to his right as he heard a grating sound and his eyes found a large rock rolling along with them. On the rock there were lines etched into it from the sharp ends of another rock. The lines formed two pictures, one of a head that resembled Sora's, and the other of a head that resembled Kairi's, both of them extending a paopu fruit to the other.

Sora glanced at Kairi and saw her looking at the drawing the two of them had made on the rock when they were little, and then the additions they'd each put on before and after the islands had vanished. She turned her eyes away from the rock and towards Sora, and he saw something in those indigo irises of the girl he loved. They had started off looking at the drawing softly, fondly even, but by the time that they had remained on Sora for a few seconds, they had become as hard as ice.

That rock had been a part of the islands and a part of their lives for a long time. That rock was a part of their home. No matter what world it was that Kairi had been born in, these islands, Destiny Islands, was her home as well as his. And now there were monsters out there trying to destroy them and wrecking their home.

"Let's get them Sora," she said, her feet fumbling on the ground as she tried to stand underneath the water. Kairi suddenly gasped and placed a hand to her left arm as the current pushed against them again, her back curling as her height dipped.

"Kairi, you're hurt!" Sora said, standing and placing his arms on her shoulders in a concerned gesture. She cracked an eye open as he stood over her.

"So... are you," she replied. "But, we have to do this. We can't- we can't back down just because it hurts can we?"

Sora sighed and shook his head. "No, we can't. Just be careful Kai, I don't want to lose you again."

"Same here Sora," said Kairi. Sora felt the current press against them in the other direction as the water began to recede back the way it came. He grasped Kairi by the waist with both of his hands, ignoring her exclamation of surprise, and flipped onto his back, holding her just above him as they floated in the middle of the water.

"Sora what are you-" Kairi began to ask, but stopped as the current swiftly started to carry them out of the tunnel to the secret place and back out towards the beach. As they emerged from the tunnel Sora found his eyes staring through the water up into the dark and stormy sky, a bolt of lightning flashing across it. The light from the static electricity illuminated a fighting Cerberus, Ohtarmon, Chimera, Soronmon, and Talos. The warrior-bird champion level digimon was busy trying to fend off both Talos' sword and Cerberus' heads single-handedly, and Soronmon was weaving through the sky on her white wings, spiralling and avoiding the fire breath from the goat head of the Chimera.

The water was picking up speed, taking them straight for where Ohtarmon was struggling with Talos and Cerberus. Sora's eyes locked onto Talos as the bronze warrior's back was turned to them, and he spotted something.

"Kairi, the nail!" he said, having her look at the bronze nail that bound Talos' single vein shut. Kairi nodded and summoned Oathkeeper back into her right hand. She flipped in the water so that her head was facing the right direction, and Sora felt his face grow red and his eyes stray while Kairi's skirt passed over his head for a moment.

He would have slapped himself, but that would have required too much energy just in moving his hand through the water to make it worth his while for being an adolescent boy. His punishment, had Kairi known that she had just presented him with the opportunity to look up her skirt and that he'd taken it, still came to him as her booted right foot used him to get a better leap towards Talos.

It had connected right between his legs.

Sora sunk like a stone onto the ground again as he became dead weight, his knees and legs curled up around that particular area to prevent it from taking any more harm as he groaned in pain and struggled to recover as quickly as possible.

"Come on guys," he spoke quietly to himself as he lay overtop of his previously discarded jacket, "you don't hurt that much do you?" The water level dropped from being above him to simply being at the level of his ear, and Sora shivered as the wind and rain assailed him once more.

Sora's eyes quickly widened and he rolled out of the way just as one of Cerberus' paws came down where he had been. Cringing, Sora got onto his feet and summoned is keyblade back into his hands.

"Polar Chill!" Cerberus withdrew the paw that had almost crushed him as two-foot-long icicles bombarded the area around where it had been, digging themselves a foot into the ground around the area where they landed.

"Come on Keys!" Soronmon yelled, swerving through the air as one of Cerberus' heads made a move to bite one of her winds. "You need to move!" Sora tried to ignore the pain in his organs as he ran straight past Cerberus, the heads being restrained from moving to bite at him as the Chimera's goat head spewed fire into the air just above Sora's head. His eyes and ears picked up the ringing notes of Kairi and Ohtarmon both battling with the nearly nine foot tall Talos. His shield was towards Ohtarmon, just able to keep the crushing blows of the digimon's mace at bay, and his sword kept coming down at Kairi with agility that astounded Sora. But Kairi was just able to keep out of the sword's reach.

Roaring in a challenging lust for battle, Sora ran straight for Talos, the bronze creation's black eyes turning to look at him as the keyblade master came forth. Kairi rolled off to the side as the colossus' bronze sword fell and Sora's mystical keyblade came up to meet it. Sora glanced at Kairi and she moved into action, heading straight for the bronze nail near the base of his ankle.

Talos bellowed and swung around completely, foiling Kairi on her attempt. His shield came up high to block Ohtarmon's mace before the digimon could begin to swing it down and his sword leapt straight for Ohtarmon's armoured chest. Sora used all of the ability he'd learned while in his Valour form and jumped clear overtop of Talos. The Oblivion came down hard upon Talos' sword, turning it down and away from the keyblade master's digimon partner. But Talos used the momentum Sora had now given his blade to twist around and deliver a cut at a leaping figure that had just flashed by, the figure's white blade cutting right through the base of a nail in his ankle. Kairi cried out in pain and dropped onto the ground as the sword ripped through the white fabric of her shirt and cut into her back.

"No!" Talos roared, watching in dismay as what remained of the nail broke free and a dark red ichor began to pour out of the vein.

"Now take this blow," Ohtarmon said gruffly, the muscles underneath his armour tightening as he gripped his mace with his clawed hands. "Deciding Swing!" Sora ducked underneath of Ohtarmon's mace as it began to glow with white light and dove after Kairi, both of his feet flying over top of the stream of ichor that rapidly streamed out of the hole in Talos' vein. Sora's ears heard the crash of Ohtarmon's mace into Talos' side and the bronze man flew past him and broke upon the trunk of the tree he had ripped chunks of wood out of. Sora glanced slightly at the sight and he saw Talos crumple and lie slouched against the trunk.

"Kairi," Sora called gently, picking her up by the girl's shoulders. His family jewels throbbed in pain as they remembered that this young woman had just pulverized them, but Sora dismissed the agony when compared to the pain Kairi must have been feeling from the gash in her back. It didn't look too good.

"It's okay Sora," Kairi said suddenly, forcing her arms to push her back up to her knees. "I'm fine. You've dealt with worse than this right?"

"Kairi you don't look fine," Sora said sternly. "Here, let me heal it for you."

"I don't think we have time Sora," Ohtarmon grumbled tiredly, readying his mace again as he changed directions from where Talos lay apparently lifeless to where the Chimera was now charging towards them, more fire spewing into the sky after Soronmon from the goat's head in between the front head of the lion and rear dragon's neck and head.

Sora glanced away from the bleeding wound on Kairi's back and quickly stood, spinning the Oblivion around his body while he himself did a complete rotation on the spot. He infused the Oblivion with freezing blizzard magic and brought it above his head as he neared the end of his rotation. The blade then came down in a completely vertical slice to cut a fireball that Cerberus' left head had sent for them, frost and flame breaking out of the contact between the two. Sora glared at the six red eyes of Cerberus, but found his vision of one of the children of Typhon and Echidna being blocked by a suit of wet (and was it also _dented_?) grey armour.

"I'll hold off the puppy," Ohtarmon said. "You and Kairi help Soronmon with the other one."

"Got it," Sora said, nodding quickly. "Be careful Ohtarmon."

"I'll be fine," Ohtarmon said, pointing his mace at Cerberus with both hands. Sora's eyes noticed that it was with both hands with some worry, Ohtarmon usually only needed one arm to hold up his mace. "Feathered Mace!"

Sora tore his eyes away from his digimon partner. He grabbed Kairi's shoulder and half-picked, half-dragged her up to her feet to combat the Chimera. The beast's lion head roared at them and Sora felt his insides squirming as his nose got a full blast of the monster's breath. Sora's knees buckled slightly underneath him as he felt a shockwave go through the ground; Cerberus must have reared up on his hind legs to avoid the knife-like feathers of Ohtarmon's mace.

The Chimera's lion head snapped towards Sora, her jaws open wide and revealing to him rows of teeth, almost equal in size to those of her brother Cerberus. Sora caught the teeth with the Oblivion's blade and held the mouth there with all of his strength as she tried to bite and break through the piece of metal stuck between her canines. Kairi rushed past Sora on his right, but he saw her stop as the green neck that stretched from the Chimera's back spring out towards her, the dragon head's maw opened wide as well, ready to chomp her in two.

Sora struggled to withdraw his keyblade from the lion's mouth, but the teeth gripped his sword in place tightly. His cerulean eyes looked straight at Kairi to watch her get slightly out of the way, the dragon's scaly cheek grazing her side and ripping away cloth and cutting skin. Kairi collapsed onto the ground from the force of it and rolled around to place her back to the soaked sand, her blood leaking freely from her back and left side as more rain found its way into her auburn hair.

Sora placed his hand against a tooth and quickly unleashed a wave of frigid air against it. The Chimera opened her mouth and recoiled slightly as the tooth froze, a thin film of ice forming around it. Sora broke the Oblivion free and he heard Soronmon shriek as she came in again. The goat's head sent another tongue of flame at the winter eagle, in a direction that Sora knew she would be unable to deke out of the way of.

"Soronmon!" Kairi yelled. "Reflega!" A shield formed around Soronmon just in time to defend against the blast of fire. The fire bounced off of the shield and rebounded right for the Chimera's flank. The creature roared as her own fire struck her side, and Soronmon dove and grasped the neck of the dragon head in her claws. Soronmon's wings beat harder in the wind and she pulled the neck and wrapped it right around the goat head. She flew off then in the direction that placed her directly in path with the lion's head.

"Kairi!" Sora yelled as he watched the champion level digimon begin to fly past the lion's head, "I have an idea! Send a chain of thunder magic at me!"

"What?" Kairi asked. He could tell that she was astounded that he'd actually ask her to attack him.

"Just do it!" he ordered, watching the goat's head closely. It was beginning to open its mouth as smoke poured out of the nostrils.

"Thundaga!" Kairi yelled, pointing the Oathkeeper at Sora. He flicked the Oblivion and caught the lightning she sent at him around it. He looked back at the goat head and saw flames emerge from out of it, aimed straight for Soronmon. The dragon's head screamed in suffering as the fire roasted it through the scales, but...

The flames also had to pass through the lion head's mane to reach Soronmon.

The Chimera screamed as her wet fur on the mane began to steam, the water soaked within it boiling instantly. Sora pointed the crackling Oblivion at the Chimera's mane where the steam was billowing out of and unleashed the lightning. The electricity was much hotter than the flames, but it was also being sent into a nest of fur that had just been rid of the water that would otherwise have protected it.

The Chimera's mane lit up like a pile of dry kindling that had been doused with gasoline.

She howled in fear and agonized pain and the creature forgot all about the battle, spinning around in distress and pain. The Chimera's front paws bowled Sora over, his back and chest hurting as he slammed into the ground again. Sora watched upside-down as she slammed into Cerberus and Ohtarmon barely avoided her raging paws. The black dog was slammed into the tree trunk, all three of his heads crashing into one another. Soronmon gained altitude to escape from the rampaging monster, but the Chimera paid her no mind and dove into the ocean to get put out the fire burning her mane. But the seas swallowed her up as soon as the fires were extinguished and then there was no trace that she'd even ran into the ocean.

Sora rolled back onto his front and glanced to where Talos had been, and he blinked in surprise when he saw that the bronze man was no longer there, but there was a small pool of dark red ichor where he had been laying.

Cerberus growled loudly, but its growl was weak. Sora grinned.

"Come on Kairi!" he said. "Only one left now!" He put one foot in front of him, but waited while thunder boomed in his ears and his body shivered from the biting wind and rain that stole his head for Kairi to come up next to him. It took a few seconds, but then she was at his side.

"I'll take the one on the left," she said, "you take the one on the right. Meet you in the middle." Sora nodded and both of them rushed to the appropriate heads. Cerberus opened the mouths of all three of his heads and a stream of fire belched out of all of them. Sora could see the rain turning into steam before it could even reach the fires, and Ohtarmon took two short leaps out of the way of the advancing inferno.

"Blizzard's Bite!" Soronmon yelled as she came in high from Sora's left. He caught sight of the frozen white blast shaped like Soronmon's head streaking through the path of the inferno, extinguishing the blaze as the cold stole all of its heat. Ohtarmon thundered up next to Sora as the keyblade master ran for the right head and his mace started glowing white.

"Deciding Swing!" he roared, slamming it down on Cerberus' paw. The ground cracked and broke underneath the paw and Cerberus howled in pain. Sora jumped towards the pile of rocks that had broken the pristine waterfall and changed his posture and direction to send him straight towards Cerberus' right head. Roaring, he slammed his keyblade into the cheek of the head. The head crashed into the middle one, which had the other head break into it at the same time as Kairi acted. Both keyblade wielders flipped in the air and brought their keyblades down on the middle head.

Cerberus' knees gave way and the dog fell flat on its stomach, quivering in pain from the pain his limbs that finally overcame him. Kairi placed a white boot on the snout of his yowling middle head and smirked at Hades' defeated guardian.

"Bad doggie," she said in a sarcastically sweet tone. Sora laughed and carefully spun Kairi around to kiss her. Kairi smiled and giggled slightly, her body wincing slightly from the suffering that its wounds were giving her.

"Oh as if that doesn't just take the cake!?"

Both keyblade wielders turned around and glared as Hades appeared in a cascade of burning red fire. Ohtarmon moved slightly to stand protectively in front of both of them, even though his shoulders were heaving. Soronmon hovered near the ground, staying just above and behind Sora and Kairi as they stood over Cerberus.

"Okay, I get it now," Hades said, drawing the brute sword covered in blue fire with pure darkness at its core, "you want a job done right, you've got to do it yourself. So, I'm done being beaten by you shrimpos. That's it!" Hades vanished in a puff of smoke and Sora pushed Kairi out of the way as the Lord of the Dead appeared behind them. He moved Oblivion up to block Hades' sword as it descended towards him.

Soronmon screamed behind Hades and shot her neck down towards him to snap her beak shut on the Olympian. Hades turned around and glared at her as his skin turned from greyish blue to red, his flaming hair becoming true fire. "You're too cold for me babe," he taunted, blasting a fireball into Soronmon's neck from point-blank range. The fireball burned Soronmon and pushed her back until her wing-joints crashed into the rock-wall of the cliff behind them.

"Soronmon!"

"You'll regret that Hades," Ohtarmon said, thundering towards Hades with his mace wound up behind him. Sora shook his head and slashed at Hades while the god's back was turned. The Lord of the Dead turned around and smirked at Sora before vanishing in another puff of smoke. Sora looked around frantically and Ohtarmon paused while Kairi got back onto her feet.

"Feel the heat!" his voice echoed, startling Sora as it came from the exact same place where Hades had previously stood. He gave a cry of pain as more fire struck his back, forcing Sora off of Cerberus' snout. The guard dog vanished in darkness back to the Underworld and Hades disappeared again, now appearing behind Kairi.

"How you doing Kairicheeks?" he asked, surprising her by placing his sword's blade against Kairi's neck, "did you enjoy my company before?"

"You're a bastard," Kairi retorted. Hades chuckled.

"Well sure my Mom and Dad were siblings," he said, "but old Kronie really didn't like it when my dear younger brother Zeusy came home and cut me and the others out of his stomach."

"Do you think I care that your father swallowed you after Rhea gave birth to you?" Kairi grumbled. "Right now you're trying to kill me just as Kronos was trying to do to you and your brothers and sisters."

Hades let his sword press against Kairi's neck, the blade's edge cutting her slightly. "Maybe, but you're a threat to me taking over Olympus with Maleficent's help."

"But I'm a bigger threat," Sora reminded him. Hades turned around suddenly and Sora slammed the Oblivion's key into the god's face. It almost looked comical to see Hades' facial tissues all scrunch up as everything, his eyes, nose, mouth, and eyebrows, were pushed in and his flaming blue hair was extinguished. Kairi dropped to the ground away from Hades' sword and placed a hand to her neck. Ohtarmon came up beside Sora and his mace slammed into Hades' side, forcing the god to fly ten feet away into the base of the tree where Talos had landed not too long ago.

Hades punched the sides of his head and his face popped out again, completely red with his entire body burning in his anger.

"You are going to wish that you were already dead!" he roared, clapping his hands together and pointing them at Sora, Kairi, and Ohtarmon. A column of dark fire sprang out of his hands and streaked straight towards the three.

Kairi sprang in front of Sora and Ohtarmon and a shield of light formed around them, a faint light coming from her crest. The fire smote itself against the shield and Sora feared for an instant that it would be overcome like when Devimon had done the same, but this time the light held fast.

Hades' eyes widened. "Not possible!"

"I'll think you find that anything is possible Hades!" Sora looked up and saw Soronmon flying over them, the small plume of feathers atop her head covered by a casing of frozen rain. "Blizzard's Bite!" Her mane ruffled as the frozen blast stormed towards Hades.

The Lord of the Dead ceased trying to overcome Kairi's shield with his dark fire and switched to blasting Menelmon's attack with a swirling inferno of yellow flames. The two met in the air and the air around Sora itself shook as a cloud of hot steam blew in a flat sheet over them all before dissipating.

But Kairi smirked and she collapsed her shield into a ball of light that floated in her palm. She flung the ball of light straight at Hades, who turned to see it coming for him an instant too late. The ball of light struck Hades in the chest, and crackling bolts of light and darkness began to burst into life all around him as the light slowly began to enter his body.

"No," Hades groaned, his hands going to his chest as the light wormed its way to become halfway within him. "No, no!"

Sora watched as beads of sweat began to appear on Kairi's brow, almost unnoticeable amidst the rain, and he placed a hand to her shoulder in support. Kairi sighed and her body relaxed for a moment, then she crossed her arms in front of her and with a yell thrust them out and back to her sides.

The ball of light completely entered Hades' body and he roared in suffering and collapsed onto the ground. His body was shaking and shivering, bolts of darkness skating over his body. His head was shaking. "This... can't... be... happening!" he roared.

A shadow of darkness leapt out of his body and dissolved in the air. Hades turned his yellow eyes onto them and glared at Kairi in hatred before he vanished completely in a puff of fire and smoke.

­-A-D-

Once he appeared in the Underworld, Hades opened his mouth wide and let his voice bellow out. "Persephone! Ready my bath and prepare yourself and the bed! Your husband has had a very bad day today!"

"Um, my lord Hades," the diminutive demon Panic began quietly.

"WHAT!?"

"Lady Persephone is not yet back from visiting her mother Demeter, my lord."

To say that Hades was livid would be putting it in the very simplest of terms. Every volcano in existence could not produce as much molten fire as Hades did.

-A-D-

Sora moved his hands to catch Kairi as she collapsed a little from exhaustion. Their happiness at defeating Hades couldn't even make him worry about any of their injuries, not even the one on Kairi's back that still poured blood between his fingers as he held her up.

_We did it_, he thought joyously, letting Kairi's body rest against his chest while moving his arms to hug her proudly. _We did it!_

"Do not be so proud of yourselves." Sora and Kairi froze and spun around as Maleficent appeared a ways behind them in a rush of green fire.

"No!" Kairi cried. "No you can't be here!"

"It's you!" Ohtarmon yelled, gripping his mace and rushing for the witch.

"Ohtarmon no!" Sora roared. "She'll destroy you!"

"We'll take care of her Kairi!" Soronmon yelled, flying straight for Maleficent.

"No Soronmon!" said Kairi. "Get away! Don't try it!"

Maleficent smiled.

Hades' fallen sword flew from the ground into Maleficent's right hand, the blue flames melting and turning into the dark of night. She raised her staff towards Soronmon and the green ball topping it glowed sickly. Searing green flames flew out of it and struck Soronmon in the digimon's right wing. She shrieked in pain and another jet of fire blasted her in the chest. Soronmon's anguished cries continued and she became surrounded in a golden glow before she suddenly shrunk and fell onto the ravaged sands, Luinmon.

"Luinmon, no!" Kairi cried, stepping out in front of Sora and looking at her partner with salty tears turning her eyes red.

Ohtarmon roared and his mace fell towards Maleficent. She parried his attack with a swift stroke of her sword and struck his side with the blade. It cut right through the armour he wore and dug into him underneath the brown feathers that covered his body from underneath. Ohtarmon's green eyes jammed shut and the holes in his helmet that revealed them reflected nothing but black emptiness for a moment before he too glowed with golden light and reverted down into his much smaller and weaker form of Ninquemon.

"You evil witch!" Sora yelled. "Leave them alone!"

"But I shall Sora," Maleficent returned with a smile. "They were merely in the way to get at the true prize here." She slashed the sword she held in Kairi's direction, and Sora gasped as he realized that she was going to try to kill her with one swift attack.

The fire on the sword merged at the tip as Maleficent swished the blade through the air, and it crackled into a bolt of dark lightning. Thunder boomed from the bolt itself, drowning out all other sound...

Drowning out Sora's pained yell as the bolt struck his left arm after pushing Kairi out of the way.

Sora jammed his mouth shut to further restrain anymore signs of weakness he'd show in front of Maleficent and looked down at his arm to see it. The limb felt numb.

"Sora what the-!" Kairi exclaimed, examining his arm in horror.

The skin had turned completely dark.

Sora eyed his arm in fear. This was far too familiar, far too real. It reminded him too much of the shadow of himself that Riku had conjured and forced him to fight when he was first in Neverland. He tried to move the arm, so that he would be able to feel more than just a numb sensation.

His eyes widened to their complete extent when he found that he couldn't.

Sora looked up at Maleficent and saw her smiling wickedly at him. She casually loosened her hold on her sword and waved it to the right.

Sora felt himself being twisted around by some other power and his left arm clenched its fingers around Kairi's throat. Kairi's scream pierced him through the heart.

"NO Kairi!"

Sora released his hold on the Oblivion and rammed his right hand against his left arm, trying to break the contact. The only thing it did was to serve to tighten the dark fingers against Kairi's windpipe. Sora grabbed his left arm with his right hand, and his face contorted in panicked concentration as he tried to force it away, but the arm wouldn't budge.

Sora sobbed and looked into Kairi's eyes, seeing them shimmering with tears as he mouth was still open wide in a silent scream.

"Keys let go of her!"

Sora felt his arm being jerked off of Kairi's throat as Luinmon and Ninquemon bounded into him, the force that they had both struck him with sending him sprawling to the ground. His left arm started spastically reaching for Kairi again as she landed just a few feet out of his arm's reach, and his ears picked up the sound of ringing metal. For one second he spared a glance to where the sounds where coming from and saw Cossex weaving around Maleficent, the Thought Crusher's axes dancing to and fro as the witch countered with both her sword and staff.

His arm violently sent him towards Kairi again, the girl still struggling to regain breath into her lungs and massaging her throat where it had now been cut by sword and touched by darkness. Her back still bled badly from the gash that Talos' sword had left in her, but Sora tore his eyes away from that and rolled on top of his arm, forcing it to stay pinned underneath him. That didn't seem to stop it however, as the arm began forcing him to convulse, his body spinning around on the sand.

More weight appeared on him and he looked into Ninquemon's green eyes. "Settle down Sora."

"I can't," he retorted, his arm jerking back towards Kairi. "It wants to hurt Kairi and I can't stop it!"

"Maybe you can't Sora," Kairi said quickly, standing over him now. "But maybe I can. I did cast Maleficent's shadow out of me after all."

"Well keep it down then!" Sora shouted as it made a lunge for Kairi's throat again. Ninquemon and Luinmon dove onto the arm and pinned it onto the ground as Sora brought his right hand over to clamp it around the forearm with as much force as he could. He chanced giving a glance at Kairi and saw her looking at Maleficent with hatred.

"Kairi!"

She looked back and nodded at Sora, a small frown on her face. Light began to pool around her fingertips, shining in the darkness. Sora saw his left arm cringe away from it as he shivered from the cold wind and rain again. More light swirled around Kairi's hands becoming a ball that glowed brightly, almost seeming to flicker with white flames around its edges. Her crest was emitting a very faint, sharp light.

"_Kírië noraki umûl!_"

Sora's eyes opened wide the very millisecond before the light struck his arm. It did not look like soft healing light, it was far too forceful, far too powerful! His mouth ripped open as he felt the light burning and ripping through his arm, and he couldn't keep himself from yelling in anguish.

-A-D-

Sora came out of the memory panting terribly. There was sweat all over his face, and his eyes were bloodshot red. Instantly they sought out Kairi, who was also panting, having just come out of the experience too. Her eyes caught his and she nodded at him. Sora took that to mean that it compared favourably to her own one.

Naminé groaned next to him and Sora quickly caught her by the shoulders. She shook her head tiredly and moaned a little more in a softer tone. "That took a lot out of me," she said quietly as Sora let her rest her head against the wooden boards of the witness stand. "But you and Kairi went through hell and high water in that battle, almost literally."

Sora smiled faintly at Naminé and she raised her head to look at Peter. He was staring at Sora, awestruck.

"So Ed, do you still not believe in magic?" Winry Rockbell asked smugly, leering at the older of the Elrics.

Judge Baker banged her gavel onto its stand, its echoes becoming the only sound in the courtroom as any who could stared at either Sora or Kairi. She herself had her eyes fixed on Sora, for it was his memory that she had been introduced to.

"Counsellor," she said, her voice quaking as she stared at the keyblade master, "do you have any more witnesses for this court?"

"No your honour I do not," Peter replied, passing a shaking hand over his sweaty head. "The defence rests." Judge Baker nodded.

"Very well," she said. "You may step down Master Sora, Princess Naminé." Sora nodded and nudged Naminé. She mumbled something about not wanting to move and preferring to rest a little longer. Sora sighed and forced Naminé onto her feet so that they could walk down. The going was slow as they passed through the front of the courtroom, and Sora paused as they stopped between the desks for the prosecution and defence.

"If you so much as touch even the air that Kairi breathes the wrong way again," he muttered, glancing at Frederick Mahoney, "I'll kill you." He and Naminé passed through the barrier and into the seating, deciding to sit in the front row right next to Aladdin and Jasmine, with Roxas, Riku, King Mickey, and Asterix sitting just behind them.

"Naminé here," Jasmine said quietly, raising her hands to her head. "Let me help you." Jasmine closed her eyes and placed a darker hand gently on the other princess' forehead. Sora could just faintly see light coming from Jasmine's hand, and he saw the muscles in Naminé's body relaxing and her breathing becoming easier. After a few seconds she removed her hand, and Naminé looked up at Jasmine and smiled, energy returned to her body.

"Thanks Jasmine," Naminé said in a hushed voice.

"Would the counsellors please approach the bench," the judge called. Sora watched as Peter and Frederick approached Judge Baker and the three of them exchanged a few words before the two lawyers returned to their positions.

"The defence and prosecution have agreed to forego closing statements," Judge Baker cited. "Therefore, I now ask the jury if they had already reached a verdict, or if they require time to deliberate." Sora turned his eyes to the jury, realizing that everyone else was also looking at the body of fifteen with apprehension as they began to discuss in voices that were barely a whisper.

Not fifteen seconds after they had begun, a male juror stood and looked at the judge. "We have reached a verdict your honour."

"Then read your verdict."

The juror cleared his throat and spoke in a voice that seemed to be as calm, authoritative, and binding as possible. "We find the defendant, Princess Kairi Talerith, innocent of all charges laid against her."

"Then that concludes this case," Judge Baker said, striking her gavel down to end the proceedings. Peter thumped his fist on his table and all eyes turned on him for one moment.

"I don't care what anybody says," he exclaimed joyously, "even just _surviving_ that battle has GOT to look good on a résumé!"

The entire courtroom erupted in jubilation and Sora vaulted the railing to stand next to Kairi just as the bailiff was removing the bracers that kept her from summoning her keyblade or using magic. As soon as they had dropped to the ground Sora swept her up off of her feet and planted a kiss right on her lips.

Kairi was in no hurry for the kiss to end, but end it did when Frederick Mahoney spoke up behind Sora.

"Empty threat," he growled. Sora stopped and put Kairi down. With surprising suddenness, Sora spun on his heels and sunk his right fist into Fred's face. He could feel the pleasing crunch of Fred's nose breaking underneath his knuckles, and it even felt like he'd knocked a few teeth loose.

Frederick was escorted out of the courtroom a few seconds later by a certain Major Armstrong from the world of Amestris and the great and strong Gaul Obelix.

Kairi placed a hand on Sora's shoulder and turned him around, he looked at her in surprise for a second before he smiled again and she drew him in to give him a very deep kiss in gratitude. "You know Kairi," Sora murmured as they broke apart, his nose nuzzling against hers, "if we skip that one day we had broken up, today is our one month anniversary. Are you busy tonight?"

Naminé and Roxas came up next to Kairi, Roxas practically carrying his girlfriend over to them before she could answer Sora's question. They both looked at Naminé, and both realized that she must have just erased the memory from everyone else's memory.

"Come on," Naminé said, "we have to go to the gardens in the castle postern. All the princesses are here, and it was what I was told to do."

Kairi smiled sympathetically at her sister and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Okay Nam, we'll go." Kairi nodded at King Mickey and the other princesses, and as one massive group, they left the courtroom, and then the courthouse.

People throughout the streets of Radiant Garden were already celebrating that Kairi had been completely cleared of all charges. As they went, random people came up to Sora and Kairi and shouted their praise or belief that she had never been guilty in the first place, or they would cautiously approach Riku or Naminé, and remark that they were impressed with the duel they had had earlier.

None of them could stop smiling. Genie was so ecstatic that he was creating banners and Genie clones to spread the good news and celebrate, causing confetti to cascade in waterfalls over balconies or for fireworks to shoot up into the bright sky.

The flowers were just as beautiful as Sora remembered when they finally had been able to get their way through the crowd to reach the postern of the castle. He looked towards the palace itself, and its white walls gleamed at him in the sunlight.

And then the castle vanished from his view, though his grip on Kairi was still maintained. Sora looked around and saw nothing beyond the many heads of his friends but the black of night, and then he looked down.

They were all standing on a platform that held a shining white star in the middle of a vibrant blue background. Eleven silver thrones circled the platform, but at the moment only one was occupied, by a woman with flowing blonde hair garbed in white and bearing a white staff.

"Thessaura," Kairi, Naminé, and King Mickey said simultaneously, dropping to their knees.

"_Haverash,_" said the Goddess of Light. "I am glad you could bring everyone Princess Naminé Talerith, for there is much to discuss..."

-A-D-

_And this concludes __**A Week of Troubles**__. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and sleep, and then spend some time catching up on my book reading, DVD and anime watching, and game playing. I still haven't even started KH Re: Chain of Memories yet! I'll see you all sometime in January. So Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year! Be safe now!_

_And now for last chapter's reviews, tell me if you don't like this system and I'll revert completely to the old one._

_**Eragonmetal6: **__Thanks, it was fun to write about what Kairi was doing while Sora was off in the Pride Lands, plus it needed to be done anyways._

_**Infinite Freedom:**__ I knew watching JAG would pay off! Otherwise I would not really have a clue at all as to what was going on. Sora being a good witness? (Laced with sarcasm) What on Earth makes you think he'd be a good witness?_

_**Ikaru Kakou:**__ Long would be an understatement, but this one is long too. However I don't make chapters long just for the sake of making them long and I try not to lower the quality of my work, even when I feel rushed like you know all too well._

_**Mrfipp:**__ Tom would never go out in formal wear now would he? And yes, we do have dubbed Re:CoM here in North America now! The yaoi is why Wartime Battlewatch did not want to play any of it, they found it sick, and so do I! Bobble heads rule! Riku facing Naminé was a very interesting choice, but I already knew from the start that Riku would pull out the win. Go lawyers, at least the good ones and not the pirate lawyers. Sora kicked ass, but I haven't even begun to play Re:CoM yet so I don't know what Marluxia sounds like either._

_**Darthkingdom:**__ I suppose that I'm still evil then, ending the second story on another cliffhanger. And like I told you, when should you ever go into a battle when I'm in charge thinking that you know how I'm going to write it? This is me we're talking about. I just brought in four monsters from Greek Mythology into the mix, and it took me four days to write that battle out. FOUR!_

_**R-Lord:**__ Twenty-five minutes sounds about right, smeghead. But no, Naminé is not able to show people what is happening between Sora and Kairi when they are on different worlds. Well, Fred did get socked in the face..._

_**Noble Wielder:**__ Thank you, and I hope to see you in __**The War**__._

_**CHEESE PLEASE:**__ He came, he saw, he memorized._

_**Krystal Lily Potter:**__ I bet you've probably beaten the game by now... And I hope that you found this chapter amazingly good. Naminé and Riku amuse me too; probably why I enjoyed writing the pair of them so much when I wrote the chapter. You are quite right, you are not the only one who is mean to Kairi, and you'll find that I'm meaner when I get back._

_**PokeRangerArdith:**__ Dislike Fred, but he is a good lawyer and just doing his job. The problem is that he likes his job. Kairi and Aiwemon both got angry at Fred because he called Menelmon 'Menel', and only Kairi calls her that. She did not want anybody but herself calling Menelmon by the shortened nickname she gave her partner, so she snapped. Sorry, but the chapter is almost as long as the last one!_

_**SalanTrong:**__ I thank you for your review all the same. It's nice to just hear someone saying occasionally that I did a good job. I hope you had a good concert._

_**Lord Moldybutt:**__ I had to at least do my best in making the court sessions authentic looking didn't I? It wouldn't have done well to just made a mockery of a legal justice system. Yeah, the last chapter was chronologically before the other, it just made sense to me. Plus, I liked reminding people that Riku and Naminé did work together while they were bringing Sora back; it gave me something to build on._

_**Icefire1126:**__ I hope I have exceeded your expectations again, and it is nice to know that you enjoyed it that much, and your pros and cons do make sense. However, I would not crown myself the King of Kingdom Hearts fanfiction. I just know that I'm good. I'll leave the King title to everyone else to determine._

_**Quartermass:**__ No, you are not a smeghead, but you do know what one is so I shall give you the 'Rimmer salute'. I do believe I pulled a dues ex machina in this one wouldn't you agree? Well, Sora certainly punched his face into next week._

_**Shinku Ryuuga:**__ You never see court stuff on CSI and I didn't even mention CSI. CSI is Crime Scene Investigation and JAG is Judge Advocate Generals, ergo military lawyers vs. civilian inspectors and analysts. This one is close in length, with the actual chapter being shorter. Yeah, Fred's an ass, but he's not yet dead._

_**GTA Guy:**__ I'm very glad to hear that you are still interested, but when I was talking about making it up to people it was more of writing more actions scenes. I don't need them, but they help to move the plot along some of the time. However, you don't need battles to keep a story interesting, which is why there are probably a lot of people that never make it through __**Fellowship of the Ring**__. Oh yes, Riku and Naminé are entertaining when placed together, and if I had been inclined that way, I could have written a romance between them easily. Bobble heads are cool! And Sora and Shenzi (sighs) too bad it didn't work out..._

_**Blzr:**__ I have bad Cold Lake memories of the word Epic. One of the other staff overused the word and put it in every second sentence when speaking to his cadets. However, I do agree with you that this deserves the words WOW and EPIC without meaning World of Warcraft. I'm positive that I don't want to be a lawyer, I'm looking into accountancy while taking history and writing on the side on my own._

_**Calovan: **__A whole lot of people are in awe at the amount of work I put out for this when I'm not making any money off of it. I wonder why I do so much sometimes, and then I realize, oh right it's fun! Well, Sora did punch him in the face._

_So, those are the reviews, I'm going to bed now, see you later._

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


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